Ageless Value

I recently heard a national speaker talk about age and life. He said "Never make a decision based on age. The spirit is ageless and eternally youthful. You can do at 85 what you can do when you are 35, except now you can do it with some wisdom.  The power of the self in our spirit is of ageless beauty." One can only hope. I believe that for the first time in a very, very long time that I am living of the spirit and not of the aging flesh. That is a great relief. I can only hope for the wisdom to do what I can, not do what I can't and know the difference when I get there.

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There has been a recent rash of articles in the newspapers and journals about the "broken healthcare system." I'm thrilled to be training to be a part of such an environment. I think about the complete irrationality of my decision daily in the face of a system that is totally broken. Having just recently had to apply for health insurance, that brokenness was really brought home to me. I'm healthy, active, and without pre-existing conditions, but was made to feel like an absolute criminal in the pursuit of health insurance to cover me in case I get hit by a wild bull or crazy goat.while going to school. Estimates of the number of uninsured and underinsured are rising daily in the U.S. and we are quickly becoming the model of what to avoid by other countries.

The Pentagon is spending nearly $5 billion per month in Iraq and Afghanistan, a pace that would bring yearly costs to almost $60 billion. Those expenses do not include money being spent on rebuilding Iraq's electric grid, water supply and other infrastructure. Imagine the value of investing that $5 billion per year in the underinsured and uninsured, coordinating health care costs across the country, stabilizing infrastructure and manpower in healthcare...just imagine. At the very least, $60 billion would completely fund a system of national insurance for all uninsured and underinsured and help bail out the struggling emergency room system that is now that population's primary care.

Why are we so willing, and able to pay for war, destruction, and country rebuilding in far way places and not so secure in the same spending for our own countries health. I don't get it. Maybe it's time to do as the bumper sticker suggests, "Get our troops out now. Let them win." And take the saving and invest in the healthcare of this country. I might not then finish training and enter a broken system. We might actually help the health care of Iraq and Afghanistan too. What is wrong with us as a people "earth" that we can't understand and implement what we need to do to survive, and thrive?