If Life Came With a
Warning
If the things that caused you harm
came with a warning, would you listen?
Last week as
I stood waiting for my early morning ride to the airport from Mississauga, Canada,
I looked down on the ground and saw a discarded empty du Maurier cigarette
wrapper. At first, I didn’t know what I was looking at. On the label there was
a picture of a pregnant woman holding a cigarette. I bent down to get a better
look and realized that I was seeing something I hadn’t seen before. The makers
of this brand of cigarettes had complied with Health Canada and placed a
warning on the label for pregnant women. It informed them that smoking while pregnant
reduced the growth of the child and that this growth reduction could lead to an increase in
disabilities, illness and death.
I was amazed
and grateful and then I got to thinking, what
if everything that was potentially dangerous came with a warning?
What if all of the men, foods and bad
outfits I’ve chosen had a label spelling out the potential risks to my health
and wellbeing; Warning, potential grief, gas and gaffe.
I laughed
out loud and thought of the warning signs we all see and ignore. I recalled
waking up in the middle of the night with that gut feeling we all get before
doing what we should not do. I thought of the delays and pushbacks that come
before entering into something that I am determined to complete, just because I
said I would and I recognized the warnings that I have ignored.
Even when I
could not feel the threat, there have been friends and loved ones (and no they
are not always the same) who are there shaking their head “no.”
It occurred to
me that the warning to drink responsibly cannot work once you decide to drink. “Don’t
smoke if you’re pregnant” is a hard message for a woman who was smoking before
she got pregnant.
We all have heard the expression that
experience is the best teacher, but it’s not the only teacher, furthermore, if
someone else has had the experience, let them teach you.
What I’m saying is
this; life does come with a warning label; it’s telling us to choose wisely and
live well.
Be you, be well, LIVE
Bertice Berry, PhD.
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