Now’s the time. It’s time that we all take responsibility for our own lives and our own health. No one else can take responsibility for who you are. For your choices, for your behaviors, for the life you create.

For so many years I tried to delegate the responsibility for my health to a healthcare system that had no interest in taking that responsibility. And even though some doctors sometimes expressed as if they were in control of my life and my choices, the last word has always been mine. But I had forgotten. Maybe repressed. I didn’t want to the take the full responsibility of what by then was my bad health. Where should I start? How would I find my way to healing?

The question felt overwhelming so I unknowingly pushed it away. But I do think it’s true; first life whispers, if you don’t listen it will start shouting. That’s what happened to me. In the end it felt like I had no choice, my life shouted at me that it was time to take the full responsibility of what was my bad health. 

And as soon as I did that, took back the responsibility for what was only mine, then the pieces started to fall into place. When I took responsibility, I also took back power over my own life and with that came an unexpected strength, to actually take the steps I needed to take. I was so much stronger than I thought.

You are so much stronger than you think.

It’s not your doctor who decides what you need to feel good, it’s you. It’s not “Livsmedelsverket” that decides what you should eat, it’s you. It’s not your family that decides how you should live your life, it’s you. It’s not a profile on social media that determines which health routines suit you, it’s you.

All the sources of knowledge and inspiration that exists around us are fantastic. Most often. But you’re the one who needs to take in the information, feel what feels right for you and then try it out. Try, test, experiment. What worked for someone else may not work for you. What has not worked for someone else may work for you. And it is only when you have tried, created your own experience, that you know what works for you, right now. And that may change tomorrow.

Choosing to live a healthy life is a daily choice we need to make. We need to start listening to our own body, our own intuition and we need to choose to live consciously enough that we actually hear, pick up the signals.

Research is important and often interesting. But it is up to you to be critical of the source, who paid for the study and what is more important to them? What is more important to you? And what works for the majority may not work for you. A normal distribution curve has tails on both sides, maybe that’s you.

I don’t mean that you should throw yourself into any extreme diet or do something that involves a great deal of risk. What I’m focused on are the simple changes that are often heavily debated and to spend more time testing and evaluating than arguing for the side your ego wants to choose.

Try a couple of weeks without sugar, see how it feels. Try different meditation techniques for a few months and evaluate. Experiment with the food and listen to the body’s response. Do your own research, ask for advice and choose a path for a period. You can always change.

There is lots of support and help to get, lots of knowledge and research. All that is good to have, we do not have to do it alone. And, when it comes to YOUR health, it’s your choice and your responsibility.

This is not a burden. It’s freedom. And it opens up to endless possibilities. Your health is your responsibility.

This is a guest post. Any opinions expressed are the writer’s own.