What Health Is Wealth Truly Means

So I just got back from a month short outside of the country travel…

Unplanned and highly opposed by my wife, I hesitantly agreed to fly to the Philippines, Australia, Philippines and back to Canada in a month’s time to attend to important family matters. The most challenging part was the fact that when I left Australia, I had to fly to the Philippines first and take the next morning flight to Canada which I found quite stressful. So to make the long story short, these long and continuous flight times took a toll on my body.

I caught the flu when I arrived Australia mid November which developed into what my Doctor termed as an upper respiratory infection. If you can’t still picture out how my itinerary got me sick, here’s how it went.

I was scheduled to fly to the Philippines on November 6th, bring my mom over to Australia, go back to the Philippines to pick up some stuff that my wife had me bought then fly back to Canada. Everything looked good on paper but sometimes, flights don’t always go as planned. My first flight which was supposed to leave Canada on the 6th got so delayed that we missed our flight connection in Vancouver. I then have to reschedule the flight which left late in the evening of the same day but that meant that I have to stay in Vancouver until 4 am as they couldn’t find an earlier connection. This meant that I have to arrive the Philippines on the 8th instead of November 7. Luckily, the replacement flight was serviced by Philippine Airlines which was a straight flight from Vancouver to Manila and as expected, the flight did arrive on time.

That night, I booked myself for a soothing 2 hour massage and started with my “things to do” list, courtesy of my wife, the next morning. Two days after, I traveled north to drop off stuff for my wife’s family, stayed there for a couple of days then went back to Manila to buy stuff for the kids, print some signs and marketing materials for our business and spend some time with the family. Did all these from November 10 to November 21st as we were scheduled to fly to Australia the morning of the 22nd. And while I was shopping and gallivanting Manila, my mom seemed to have caught the flu at the hospital when she went to see her doctor to ask three-month worth of prescriptions for her Australian vacation.

En route Australia, I was already feeling that I’m getting the flu myself and got full-blown when we arrived the country. The flu knocked me down for a couple of days but I was trying everything to get well as I will only be in the country for roughly a week and a half and I did have the obligation to help out with the wedding preparations.

Good thing I felt well on the day of their wedding so I was happy to have helped them out as my aunt didn’t have any relatives in the country. This was December 2nd, which was a Saturday. I hitched with a friend Sunday morning and arrived Pert early that evening have dinner with them and head to my hotel as I was flying Monday evening to the Philippines, 4th of December and was scheduled to attend a business seminar at 11 am.

Everything was going well that day except for my acid reflux which was bothering me all the while.. this eventually went crazier the moment I arrived the airport and it was driving me nuts during my flight back to the Philippines. While I was wrestling with the pain, I was more than thankful for the smooth flight which arrived the Ninoy Aquino International Airpot short of 30 minutes from the scheduled arrival time.

In Manila, I booked myself a grab car, dealt with traffic for around one hour and a half and finally arrived my mom’s home at around 11 pm. I was looking forward for a goodnight’s sleep when I saw all the stuff that I need to pack for the morning trip… and after all the packing and weighing, I found myself still wide awake at 3:30 am and I have to be in the airport by 5 am for the 9 am flight. I did manage to squeeze in a good 2 hour sleep and headed to the airport at around 5:30 am.

To make this seemingly long story short… I felt sick in the last three weeks of this journey and got sicker and I finally arrived home in Canada that prevented me from working on my business the month of December, which meant that I haven’t been working on my business for a good two months and I also didn’t have the energy to visit the gym this whole time to try and recover as I suffered from a series of influenza relapses.

You’ve probably heard the “health is wealth” quote for probably a hundred thousand times just as I did but really, we only realize its true meaning when we’re bugged down with a less desirable state of health that prevents us from performing to our best potential.

I have been a full-time entrepreneur in the last 5 years and if you are or knew any entrepreneur who’s crushing it with their careers, you’ll know that getting sick and not being able to work on your business for two months would kill you. I have been engrossed at working hard on my business and career in the last five years of working for myself with more or less 5 hours of sleep everyday (this year) as I started to challenge myself to rise at 5 am no matter what time I go to bed to become more productive in business and my personal life as I like any other dads with young kids, I do have have daddy duties that I have to fulfill each day.

In my younger years, back in my home country (the Philippines); I didn’t agree fully with the health is wealth quote as I thought it’s teaching people to become lazy, being contented with having good health and not wealth but I just realized now, that health and wealth are like twin sisters that should always get along with each other.

Fact of the matter is, we can’t build wealth if we aren’t healthy. The reason why I decided to go back to the gym last year was to invest in cardio activities more than weight which I was grossly engaged in my twenties because cardio isn’t only good for our heart and health in general but is very good in pumping oxygen to our brains and most millionaires do have healthy brains as it actually helps us enhance our intelligence and I do so believe that many (not all) millionaires are the most hard-working and intelligent people on the planet.

A crappy health won’t help anyone get anywhere because you just can’t work to your full potential, you’ll be limited physically and most of the times intelligently. I’ve always been a baby when I’m sick, that’s one of the reasons why I chose entrepreneurship and self-employment compared to working a regular job and I despise having to call in sick everyday when you get sick but whatever it is that you’re doing to bring in money on the table for your family and yourself, one important lesson I’ve learned in my Australian and Philippine sojourn is to take care of our health no matter what by eating right and being active in the gym or doing some sort of physical activity at least a couple of times a week to get you started. Most of us are so engrossed with our careers and personal life that we tend to forget to take care of ourselves.

Most men and women who has families think that it is no longer necessary for them to get fit as they’re already married. People are trapped in the misconception or belief that they no longer need to look good as they already have a wife or a husband and they use the kids or their careers as excuses of not having time to go to the gym.

Well, some people, actually never stepped on the gym in their lives and if you’re one of them, you’ve got to do yourself a favor of committing to exercise at least every other day, if not  everyday, change your diet into a more healthier choice of everyday meals as this will not only keep you looking younger, this will also help you achieve longevity and a more fulfilled life and yes, if you’re true life purpose is to be wealthy, you’ll have a better chance of achieving it as well as healthier people can achieve more!