With all the buzz of Measles articles on my newsfeed it got me thinking and of course researching because that's what I do. First off I'm not making any pro or anti vaccination claims here, so don't go off on that, I choose not to judge others for their decisions on that subject as I don't fully know everyone's circumstances. But what I did find In my research is this. World wide the death rate from measles is this number .00328%. Again not a should we vaccinate or not post. My research also shows this. Almost 600,000 people in the United States alone die of Heart Disease in a year. That's 1 in 4 people. Maybe we are ALL talking about the wrong subject here. I personally have never lost a loved one to measles nor do I know anyone who has. I have however lost loved ones to heart disease. And if I had to guess almost every single one of you have too. There is no vaccination for heart disease. And while I completely understand that every situation is different and some of these people have had congenital heart defects, the vast majority did not. Which leads to the causes of Heart Disease. Let me list them.. High Blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, excessive alcohol and caffeine use, drug use, stress, diet and over the counter prescription use. WOW! Every single thing I just listed has one thing in common. YOU! Or ME! As in I am in control of ALL of those things to some degree. So even more than, measles, cancer, accidents, you name it, we are killing ourselves with poor decisions that could be reversed. So why are we not talking about this? Why are we the most obese nation eating food that other countries ban, working jobs that we hate and stress us out, smoking even though we know it's bad for us, and not exercising? And I am not judging by all means. I'm just as guilty of some of these. But if we truly look at the issues here, it seems to me that maybe some of the things our news is pushing is more of a distraction to us then really helping us. Or maybe we like that distraction because that gives us something to fixate on and not have to look at ourselves and see what we are doing to ourselves and our children. Because it's easier to worry about Measles than it is to watch our diets, exercise, quit smoking, manage our diabetes and find ways to relieve stress from our lives. I made a decision 2 and a half years ago when my health started failing me that I wanted to live and I wanted to live abundantly. I wanted to be able to have children and be healthy enough to watch them grow and live long enough to see my grand children and maybe great grand children. So I was going to do everything in my power to make sure that I was able to live that life, and if something tragic happened to me at least I could say it wasn't for lack of trying my best to live a healthy life. What are you doing to say the same? I challenge everyone to fixate our attention on ourselves. Let's quit judging others for whatever decisions they are making and solely worry about you. Your health. Your body. We are only given one life and one body to live it in so if we see a number as big as 1 in every 4 maybe we should take note and ask ourselves am I contributing to that number? And could I possibly be making decisions on a daily basis to contribute to that number. If so what can I do starting now to make positive changes?? Ok rant over. Go be healthy!