Save Yourself to Save Others! What I learned from Ignaz Semmelweis.

Do you catch yourself trying to help others, yet feel as if they are blowing you off or repeating the same mistakes over and over?

Do you feel like you are trying to do your best to take care of yourself, but others try to do little things to crush your dream or ridicule you?

Or do you feel like they think you are crazy, because what you’re saying is opposite of what they’ve heard for the past 30 years?

Being a health coach and living a life that is opposite of the majority of society, can make you feel this way from time to time. For those of you who know Herson and I, you know we have philosophies that are different from the main stream media and we apply scientific based protocols that are opposite of what most are familiar with. Who’d a thought you can eat more, do less and live a phenomenally, healthy, fit life?

For those of you who are on this journey with us, you may catch yourself trying to SAVE the world from making the same mistakes we all once did. For instance, you see a mother giving her kids Fiber One bars for constipation or a co-worker using Splenda versus sugar. You may see someone doing endless hours of cardio or working out two times per day. You just want to stop and SHAKE THEM and say, “HEY, you don’t have to do all this! It’s much simpler. It’s much more scientific and efficient to do things a different way.” Many of you know you can slow the aging process, end the constant struggle with food, health problems and yo-yo dieting, just by making a few small tweaks to your overall lifestyle. When you learn this truth, as I did 6 or so years ago, you are ready to SAVE the world and share the TRUTH with everyone. You see many practicing habits or repeating the same mistakes over and over that seem to be leading them in the wrong direction. Some of you want to SAVE them (and their families) from the struggle just as anyone would want to save their child from making a life altering mistake. When you share information with others, you expect them to trust you and jump right on board, because they should know you mean well and they should trust your intentions. You’re not trying to control them or change them, you just want to help them.

This is what happened to me, or how I felt, as I started to learn that each of us personally has the control to end many of our health problems through simple and effective steps, that are easy to sustain for life!

It’s stated in the verse 2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT) For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline and Philippians 4:13 (NLT) For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength, yet when it comes to health, this is hard for many to truly believe.

We have been given the power of love, self-discipline, endless resources and strength to achieve much of what we set out to accomplish for health and well-being. God, nature, the Earth, has provided everything to help us live vital, productive and WELL! Many of us just do not realize how simple this can be and that we already have the STRENGTH we need to make this happen! We do not need to pray for it, ask for it or hope for it, as stated in 2 Timothy and Philippians, we just need to APPLY and BELIEVE that we already have it!

We may need to seek support from someone who is ahead of us in our journey of well-being, just as we may seek out a successful business person to learn how to get started. These people have been planted in our life for a reason, but overall, each of us has the tools needed to create our BEST LIFE! Once we realize this, our prayer for help and support evolves into a prayer of thanks for giving us the strength and support needed to help us create the life we dreamed of!

With this being said, once you learn the simple steps to living well, you can literally drive yourself crazy and hinder your own results by trying to convince people to believe you. You may want to say something at the lunch table or call a family member to beg them to stop doing rapid weight loss plans or prevent unnecessary surgery. You may want to let them know they can heal their chronic headaches or sinus problems through simple changes, yet every time you do, they seem to be judging you and wonder, “Who do you think you are…. a doctor or something?” This response, their lack of trust or their disbelief, can crush you a little. It can make you doubt your own path or may make you personally back track.

This actually happened to Ignaz Semmelweis!

If you do not know who he is, Ignaz was a physician in the 1800’s who discovered the practice of physicians at that time was literally spreading infection from woman to woman, killing them for no reason. This was prior to the discovery of bacteria and prior to the normal practice of hand washing. Ignaz discovered that he and his peers, were actually creating the spread of infection and women were unnecessarily losing their lives due to their practice of performing an autopsy on women who died from infection and then proceeding to go right into the next healthy delivery. The doctors themselves were unknowingly spreading an infection over and over, unintentionally killing innocent, healthy women. As soon as Ignaz realized he and his peers could be the cause of the rampant infection, he asked his peers if they would try washing their hands after the autopsies. His peers ridiculed him for this suggestion, because it was not common practice and they did not want to take an extra step that had not been proven to make a difference. There were no published studies of its effectiveness :>) Ignaz was distraught by their reluctance to do something so simple that could save so many lives. He became obsessed with trying to get someone to listen and believe him. Imagine what it feels like to see women dying during their birth from something that could be so easily prevented.

“Semmelweis was outraged by the indifference of the medical profession and began writing open and increasingly angry letters to prominent European obstetricians, at times denouncing them as irresponsible murderers. His contemporaries, including his wife, believed he was losing his mind, and in 1865 he was committed to an asylum. In an ironic twist of fate, he died there of septicaemia only 14 days later, possibly as the result of being severely beaten by guards. Semmelweis’s practice earned widespread acceptance only years after his death, when Louis Pasteur developed the germ theory of disease, offering a theoretical explanation for Semmelweis’s findings. He is considered a pioneer of antiseptic procedures.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis#Discovery_of_cadaverous_poisoning

When you are just beginning your journey to live well or you are going against the norm, you will find yourself treated the same way Ignaz was. You will have people ridicule you, ignore you, judge you  and distrust you. That is ok! Every person who has created great change, has lived the same path. Just research Martin Luther King, Nikola Tesla and Albert Einstein. Many are not revered until they are long gone!

Even Jesus lived this experience shared in the book of Matthew:

A Prophet Without Honor

53When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. 54Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. 55“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57And they took offense at him.

But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.” 58And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

Now I do not personally claim to be an expert in the acts of God, the Bible or any religion. For those of you who know me, you know I was at one point borderline atheist due to the path life led me down. Thanks to God, the universe and my Husband, I was brought back to life and realized there is something much greater than myself watching over me and guiding me. This is why I choose to take these examples and apply them as I move forward in my path of wellness. This has been God’s plan for my life.

In the past year or so, I chose to learn a great lesson from Ignaz on What Not to Do! When you are on your journey to create your best self, you can not waste time, money or energy trying to convince others to believe you. If you do, you will find yourself the one with less health from worrying too much about them and their path just as Ignaz did.  You will also look like the crazy, controlling one, versus the helpful, loving one. As Gandhi stated, you can only “Be the Change you Wish to See in the World.” You can not force it. You can only put every ounce of energy and faith into your daily habits in order to realize the life that was intended for you to have! You can not save anyone unless you save yourself.

I am learning to take this lesson from Jesus:

Matthew 10: 11Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave.12As you enter the home, give it your greeting.13If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you.14If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.

When you practice sharing your truth, your gifts, your knowledge, you may not be heard. You may be doubted. Again, that is ok. The greatest of the great have lived through the same. You do not need to prove yourself through begging, supporting or gaining more degrees to validate that you know this stuff! Ignaz, was a doctor and no one would listen. His own wife didn’t realize why he was going crazy and he did not get to reap the benefits of the knowledge God gave him. He suffered trying to prove his gifts to everyone else. Don’t do this to yourself! Plant the seed, share the love and then SHAKE OFF THE DUST. Let God handle the rest.

Romans 12:2 ( NIV) Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.

If you have discovered the truth for yourself on how to simply live well, focus on perfecting your personal health. Share your learnings with others, but do not attempt to force what they’re not ready to hear. When one is ready, one will do. No matter how much you love them, do not take it personal when they do not believe in you or in themselves. Shake off the dust and go back to creating your best LIFE! Your best YOU! Let your spiritual walk, your body and your health Be the Change You Wish to See in the World! When you invest all of your positive, spiritual energy into becoming your best self, people will then come to you! Those who doubted, will start to believe and your results, your healing, will speak for itself! You will give others hope and belief that they too, can do the same.

This is how you Save Others by Saving Yourself first!

Photo credit thanks to Emilio Ladines :>)
Save the World Photo http://www.thepursuitofgreen.com/2013/06/23/a-prius-v-update/
Ignaz photo http://fineartamerica.com/featured/2-ignaz-semmelweis-hungarian-science-source.html
Ignaz Presentation http://news.medinfo.ufl.edu/articles/staff/hand-washing-pioneer/