If there is one thing that affects all people of all colors, creeds and religions without discrimination, it’s the state of people’s physical health. While there are some differences with regard to the level of affluence present in a person’s environment, there can be no excuses for suffering poor health through personal neglect.
Physical health is something that everyone is born with and it is their responsibility and theirs alone to ensure that it is kept in the best possible state they can manage. While there may be nothing a person can do about their home surroundings and whether poverty is a predominant factor, they can do something about their choices.
Good or Poor Choices
Some people are lucky enough to be born into a well to do family who live in a prosperous part of town and they want for nothing. Others are not so lucky and are born into a poor family and grow up in a poor part of town. But when a person reaches an age when they can make certain life choices for themselves, they get to choose whether to stay in the part of town they are, or to move on to something better.
There are plenty of poor people who remain in poverty for no other reason than they don’t choose to drag themselves out of it. There are also plenty of people who have all the apparent benefits of prosperity around them, yet they squander their good fortune and become addicted to drink or drugs.
Everyone Loves a Winner
Yet there are also plenty of people who refuse to be a slave to their circumstances. While friends and family may choose to remain in their poverty stricken locale, some choose to leave and search for more prosperous climes. Others seek to rise above their lowly station and aspire to greatness.
One such person who grew from humble beginnings to become truly great was Abraham Lincoln. He was a poor boy from a very poor family, yet there was something about him that made him break free from the life sucking beast of poverty that overshadowed his childhood to become the leader of a nation. His presidency saw him live through the dark time of civil war yet his strength and determination despite his many handicaps saw him bring about the end of slavery in America.
Much can be learned from people who make something of themselves despite apparent obstacles placed in their paths by circumstances. People can suffer ill health through their lack of understanding as much as through bad judgement and failure to make the most of opportunities when they arise. Or they can take a shot for health and enjoy good health by making good choices, grabbing at opportunity with both hands and doing whatever it takes. It just takes the will to want for better and to make the right choices to elevate from a lowly place to a higher one.