It’s human nature to value cure over prevention.
Marketers know this very well. The money is in the cure, not in the prevention.
A person who is not willing to pay $100 for a product that prevents cancer will suddenly be willing to pay $100,000 for a product that cures cancer, at the moment he is diagnosed with the disease.
The economy is geared towards profits. Since prevention is unprofitable, the mainstream media, entrepreneurs, scientists, governments, and doctors will always push the cure, not the prevention.
Blaming them is pointless because it’s the rule of life to exploit the weaknesses of others. Choosing cure over prevention is a human weakness. Nature has never been kind to the weak and it never will be.
If you don’t have a weakness to exploit, others can’t exploit you. Simple as that.
Here are 7 reasons why you should always choose prevention over cure:
1. Many illnesses don’t have a cure
While modern medicine has come a long way, there is still a long list of incurable diseases, many of which are preventable with healthy life choices.
2. Prevention increases the quality of your life, cure decreases it
Even when you catch a disease that has a cure, the quality of your life will still plummet.
Having to swallow pills regularly, foregoing your favorite foods, using less table salt, a decrease in mobility, and so on are common discomforts that come with the cure.
3. Prevention saves you from dealing with doctors, cure puts you in their hands
Many doctors are despicable people who give zero fucks about the well-being of their patients.
Moreover, most doctors suck at diagnosing and curing diseases.
It’s common for the same person with the same health complaints to visit 5 different doctors and get 5 different opinions.
It may not be possible to avoid dealing with doctors altogether but, anyhow, it’s best to focus on prevention and avoid them as much as you can.
4. Prevention is cheap, the cure is expensive
Good quality hospitals are extremely expensive, not to mention the high costs of medicine and health insurance.
Whereas exercise, eating well, and avoiding drugs are cheap.
5. Prevention has positive side effects, a cure has negative side effects
Medications often come with a laundry list of side effects that make you reconsider whether you really need them or not.
On the other hand, a healthy lifestyle results in peace of mind and a healthy body that allows you to engage in pursuits that enrich your life.
6. Prevention depends on you, cure depends on others
One of the greatest benefits of being self-reliant is that you take your destiny into your own hands. When you lead a healthy lifestyle, you are in control of your health.
The time when you need a cure is the time you put your destiny in the hands of other people (usually doctors) who rarely have your best interests at heart.
7. Prevention is happy, cure causes stress
As Schopenhauer said, a healthy beggar is happier than an ailing king.
When you are a man who exercises regularly, eats well, and sleeps well, you already accomplished 90% of happiness in life.
On the other hand, even when you catch a curable disease, you will still be stressed.
Conclusion
It’s an unwritten rule of life that you must always do the opposite of what the average person does.
The average person has a cure mindset rather than a prevention mindset. He will blissfully ignore the health risks of his unhealthy habits until he inevitably gets sick.
Don’t be an average person.
Exercise and eat well. Don’t let yourself get fat. Don’t let yourself get weak. Limit your alcohol intake and don’t smoke or do drugs.
Have a prevention mindset, rather than a cure mindset.