Our last article centered on companies using the “life changing” marketing ploy in their advertising as a new way to endear their products to new prospective buyers.  

It got me wondering what is making these ad companies presume that we all need our lives changed.  On a scale of happiness with, let’s say “my existence is endlessly beautiful” at the ideal top and whatever its absolute opposite would be at the bottom, most of us would be residing somewhere in the middle.

“Where in between?” is the question.  Most people I would think have an enduring quest to constantly improve their position on the “Happiness” or shall we say “Quality of Life” scale.  It certainly is a goal of mine.

Happiness for most of us partly implies being able to conceive of a better future which of course later becomes a better now.  Attaining goals, being successful, finishing important projects, vacations, seeing or contemplating being with a loved one, having and loving a compatible partner, envisioning a great meal at a favorite restaurant, observing family/friends winning in life, etc. are all things that would help plot us more on the plus side of this scale.

One has to be able to look, imagine, or project into their own future positive, fun, constructive, and worthwhile things to help make our existence the way that they wish to have it in our tomorrows.  The ability to project into tomorrow is critical to our “quality of life”.

Do you know what a primary barrier is to being able to project into tomorrow, or dream of future happy moments or to contemplate making high flown goals?  What can acutely prevent us from thinking about anything but the here and now?

Pain creates a very insistent demand to stay right here in the present.  When the pain is chronic or perhaps severe enough, it dictates:  “Don’t you dare think about having fun today, tomorrow or anytime in the future.  I demand your attention, NOW!”

People, having innate problem solving intuition will obey these “orders” to try and make the pain subside or disappear.  If you are fortunate enough to be unfamiliar with this, just ask someone that you may know who has a “bad back”.  How the thought of just getting up out of their chair without pain is about all the future they care about.  Or perhaps ask someone who hasn’t had a good night sleep in weeks due to a shoulder injury.  And God forbid, someone who has become reliant on an opioid to dull their severe pain.  The addiction to pain medications plunge people down this “Happiness” scale suddenly and in some cases to the absolute bottom of it.

Pain suppresses happiness.  It can pin us to the present and for some even to the past to when the actual injury took place.  It takes a special person to live happily with chronic pain.

Backsafe® and Sittingsafe®, our musculoskeletal injury prevention programs, were created to enhance people’s “quality of life”.  We want healthy employees to feel even better.  We want your employees with aches and pain to feel “normal” again and to raise them up this “quality of life” scale.  It is such a wonderful experience to observe groups of middle aged or “aging” people go through this training and see their immediate rise in the “quality of life” scale.   When they identify THE causes of their discomfort and pain and learn how to prevent it and gain immediate improvement via our stretching routines, the whole tone of the group rises. 

Can we help you to help your employees be happier?  When people aren’t in pain, their morale is better, production is higher, and workers’ comp costs are reduced.  And you can contemplate happier vacations too!  Contact us today!  The process is simple and powerful.

Dennis Downing, CEO
Future Industrial Technologies, Inc.