By Josiah Groth

Featured Columnist

Did you know that disease has momentum? The process of us moving from vibrancy and health to fatigue and depletion, then sickness, and finally disease and death can be seen as a process of momentum. Taking a look at the momentum of a disease can be enlightening and very helpful as you plan for wellness.

Imagine a snowy scene. You have walked to the top of a steep snowy hill. Looking back down the hillside, you view your house at the bottom. Playfully, you decide to make a small snowball. You set it on the ground and give it a push. You watch the snowball as it rolls. With every rotation it grows. It gets heavier and faster. It starts to rumble and roar as it tumbles and flips down the hillside. You stare, a little shocked and awed, as it continues. The snowball grows from a ball to the size of a tire then into a boulder. Now it’s the size of a car and will soon be the size of a dump truck. Your awe turns to fear as you realize it is heading straight for your house. You scramble, but it’s too late to do anything. Crash!

Now imagine that the snowball is a disease. Our allegorical scene illustrates several wisdoms. Today, I will point out two of them. First, we seldom realize the implications of our actions since they affect us way down the road. Even when we feel the effects of fatigue and depletion, we don’t quite know what is coming. It isn’t until the disease is dump truck-sized and has terrifying momentum that we see the upcoming tragedy and know that we need to stop that snowball.

Secondly, our story shows a relationship between the momentum of the disease and the difficulty or ease in stopping that momentum. Our tiny snowball-sized stressor has many options that are often cheap and easy for you to balance all by yourself. That dump truck sized disease gives you fewer options, less time, and much less control.

Caution: Trying to stop a disease with the momentum of a dump truck using just a multivitamin or a bag of tea will not work. You may need to seriously spend some resources and change some deep habits to match the power of a disease’s momentum and, thus, halt it.

Remember: It is far cheaper, in dollars and in drama, to pick up the snowball at the top of the hill while it’s small than when it looms disastrously large at the bottom.

Josiah Groth is the owner of Back to Bliss Wellness.  More information on his practice can be found at: www.backtoblisswellness.com.