A college ecology professor of mine insisted that Darwin was misquoted and meant to say “the survival of the fit ins”. By that, my professor meant the ability of an organism to adapt, or change in order to fit into an ever-changing environment. This changeability allows species of all kinds to survive.
In the modern world we have manipulated and altered our living and eating circumstances to such an extent we avoid the need to adapt to our external environment altogether. Or so we thought. We invented efficient heating and cooling systems thereby eliminating the need to adapt to seasonal temperature changes. We have humidifiers and de-humidifiers to avoid natural weather shifts, electricity to avoid the night, machines to avoid the physical work, and cars to avoid the walk.
What have we done but invent a new environment? Moreover, it is an environment that no longer forces us to be healthy in order to survive. Humanity has “evolved” to such a degree that our lifestyle no longer demands health as its default. The current default lifestyle has sufficiently degraded enabling prolonged disease on a wide scale. We must begin again. We must change our ways, our habits, and our cultures if health and healing are what we wish to promote.
Anyone who has ever seen a naturopath can report that she or he often asks you to make changes in your life. From eating habits and exercise, to taking supplements and herbs at inconvenient times, recommendations Naturopathic Doctors make require you to do something differently than you previously have.
How we change effectively is a topic I have spent much time contemplating and researching. Toward my own improved health, I have asked myself to make significant changes in my own life. I have observed moments of great success and disappointing failure at doing so. I am curious to explore with you what drives us to live healthfully: Why We Change, How We Change, and When Change Occurs as a Reflection of Who We Truly Are.
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