Let’s face it. Despite millions of positive, well-meaning professionals, our U.S. healthcare “box” is a problem. Just look at the data. Lower life expectancy rate than thirty other nations. High obesity rate. The continuation of chronic illnesses like heart disease and cancer, despite new medications and advancements in technology. The opioid crisis. The second highest rate of Alzheimer’s in the world. We do not have a healthcare system. We have a “sick-care” system – a structure that people rely on when they are sick, not well. So, solving problems inside this paradigm (i.e. “box”) doesn’t appear to be very helpful in the long run. It might even be making things worse for a lot of people.

I remember my father being diagnosed with cancer in 1998 and dying eleven months later from chemotherapy. Treat a toxic problem with a toxic solution? Hmmm. Kind of makes you wonder. Same thing with my mother when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Attempt to solve one systemic problem with an isolated solution – and create several more problems in the process? Side effects? How is this inspiring?

As a business consultant for the past thirty-one years I have been trained to help leaders and organizations solve problems at the root-cause level. I believe this is what Albert Einstein meant when he said, “The significant problems we face today cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” Systemic problems require systemic solutions. We need to dig deeper and find comprehensive solutions outside the box – especially when it’s the box that is the problem!

To do this, we begin by gathering facts and data – the good, the bad, and the ugly. We then use a variety of analysis tools to identify critical leverage points, or root-root causes, to major problems. Next, we find systemic solutions to the systemic problems – not isolated, quick fixes. A change at this level changes everything, not just the symptoms. It results in sustainable, transformational change – a radical shift in thinking and behavior. Think of this as a metamorphosis, like a caterpillar emerging from a cocoon as a butterfly. There is no going back. The caterpillar was meant to fly. We are meant to be healthy. Every cell in our bodies know this.

So, why are so many people sick?

Why has life expectancy in the U.S. dropped for the second year in a row? https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/21/health/us-life-expectancy-study/index.html

Why is the U.S. ranked 31st in life expectancy by the World Health Organization when we are among the most advanced nations in the world? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy

Is it because we have learned to “think outside the box” in other industries but we are still trapped by limiting beliefs in healthcare? Are we as a nation addicted to a system that is unhealthy? And what can Americans do in the meantime to boost immunity, prevent illness, and live a healthy life outside this box?

Miracle-minded management is one option. In simple terms, this means living from a basis of love and appreciation and sacred intelligence, not fear and stress. Unfortunately, it is human nature to attach to the ego-thought system, which is fear-based, dualistic and stubborn. This attachment (and habit) translates into worrying about things – like health and wellness. Ironically, worrying about things like health and wellness doesn’t improve it. It makes it worse. Anxiety and stress weaken the immune system and leave us more vulnerable to illness and disease. It gets even worse when we are diagnosed with something frightening. Now, the fear really kicks in. First, we worry about getting sick. Then we worry about being sick. The ego thought system thrives on this. It feeds on the drama.

Miracle-minded management is a paradigm shift. It is a completely different way of seeing the world, and it is a release from ego. Rather than live in fear and doubt, we live in-Spirit. We live fearlessly. We get in touch with who we really are – an eternal, spiritual being. We let go of our identification with the body and the ego, and we experience life very differently. We no longer feel anxious and afraid. We no longer feel bothered by negativity and drama around us. We feel alive and free. We feel self-empowered, joyful, enthusiastic and eager for what is to come. We have surrendered our limited self to a higher power, our higher Self.

This shift in thinking is important because we are frequently surrounded by negative talk, ideas, and programming. When is the next epidemic going to hit? When is the next natural disaster going to happen? Did you see the news? Did you hear about so-and-so?  Don’t forget your flu shot. It’s that time of year. Stock up on your meds.

Negative expectancy attracts negative outcomes. This is the law of attraction. We reap what we sow. We experience what we dwell on. Thought is a form of energy and like-frequencies of energy attract like-frequencies of energy. Remember? Misery loves company? Dis-ease does too. Dis-ease in the mind attracts disease in the body.

Miracle-minded healthcare means challenging the boxes, or paradigms, we hold to be true, separating facts from assumptions. Is this statement a fact, or is it simply an opinion? The difference can be game-changing. I remember when I was 17 years old and a world-renowned orthopedic surgeon told me I would never play football again. I had run my foot through a lawn mower and after two intensive, reconstructive surgeries over a six-day period, the doctor gave me the “bad news.” He meant well, and I believe he was sincere. He was just trying to be straight with me, given his professional training. Nevertheless, I was playing football for the University of Notre Dame two years later. What he shared with me was not a fact. It was an opinion. And I chose to believe something different.

Now consider countless cases of spontaneous healings and medicine-less treatments around the world. Consider alternative, all-natural diets and supplements that reduce and relinquish inflammation in the body – a root cause to most major diseases. Consider “Earthing,” touching the earth for 20 minutes a day with your skin, which floods your body with electrons and neutralizes free radicals and inflammation. Look into Bemer, the world’s most advanced vascular-therapy technology. These “out-of-the-box” solutions exist now and are available to facilitate good health in an all-natural way, despite the system we have available to us when we are injured or ill. It doesn’t have to be an either-or dichotomy. Why not both? Why not be proactive and discover best-practices worldwide? Why not do what you can to prevent illness and improve your quality of living? You might even learn something you can teach your doctor. Now, isn’t that a paradigm shift!