The Ultimate 10 Tips and Tricks to Avoid Becoming Disabled **SARCASM WARNING**
1.) Don't live an active lifestyle
Don't do any risky activities like skiing, biking, walking anywhere cars are, driving, and so forth. Certainly don't travel abroad, go sky diving or bungee jumping, or go rock climbing.
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2.) Don't live a sedentary lifestyle
Make sure you get out and exercise! Take a bike ride, go for a walk, get out and see the world. Make sure you get lots of fresh air and sunshine and certainly don't sit at home all day.
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3.) Don't get sick
Avoid all people and animals that could give you a cold or flu. Stay at home all day and quarantine.
4.) Don't have bad genes
Make sure your parents don't have any history of chronic illness or disability themselves or in their extended family.
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5.) Have a good childhood
Make sure the people who raised you never yelled or hit you, always had enough resources to provide for you, were unconditionally supportive, and didn't ever lose their temper.
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6.) Don't be a wimp
Make sure you went through lots of adversity growing up so you don't ever overreact to anything and no one can accuse you of being wimpy. Be good under stressful situations and never cry or show pain unless it's extreme.
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7.) Never stress out
Make sure you are always in control of your emotions and remain calm and collected. If you stress out you can trigger burnout and autoimmune diseases.
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8.) Be wealthy and successful
Make sure you have the resources to eat well, live in a good neighborhood, avoid pollution, mold, asbestos, and secondhand smoke. Make sure you have a good job with a health plan that lets you have annual checkups, dental care, and any screening tests your doctor requests.
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9.) Prioritize health over career
Don't focus too much on your job. Make time to meditate and exercise. Focus on building meaningful friendships and a strong family support network. Make time for your hobbies and happiness.
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10.) Be lucky
This tip supersedes all the others. As long as you do this you don't have to do anything else!
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Disability is not a personal failing. Disability is bad luck. Hopefully, this very sarcastic post gets that across.
Genetics, viruses, trauma, environment and more all go into the likelihood of developing chronic illness. But these things are rarely under our control. Things that lower the risk for one disability often raise the risk of another. The only constant factor is luck. When we acknowledge the unpredictability of disability we acknowledge that disability can happen to anyone.
Healthy people need to know that all it takes is one stroke of bad luck to be disabled and unable to support yourself. Safety nets are not just for the people who need them now, they are protection for everyone in society from the chaos of the world we live in.
While taking care of your health is a great thing to do, the reason to do so should not be preventing or fear of disability. There is no foolproof way to escape chronic disease and disability.
Not to mention even controllable factors like diet are greatly influenced by circumstance and opportunity.
Just look at people like @agy.lena who were incredibly healthy and active before their illness. Myalgic Encephalomyelitis does not discriminate and will not spare you because you are "healthy" and "not lazy." Neither will long covid or fibromyalgia, lupus or MS.
The true secret to avoiding disability is luck. If yours ran out that is not your fault.
