By Paula Renaye
I met a woman at a networking function who told me about a company that does DNA testing for the general public to determine your ancestry--a DNA genealogy and assessment of sorts. The technology fascinated me and I wanted to know more.
She explained that with just a simple test--and a mail-away envelope--you could soon have your very own historical--and perhaps hysterical--record of your genological roots. Your handy dandy genetic expose' will include juicy details, such as your predominant race markers and the geographical genetic stomping grounds of your kin, clans and knuckle-draggers.
Since I know very little about my biological background, I started thinking it might be a fun thing to do. Like many adoptees--and those who are convinced they were switched at birth--I'm just sure I’m lost royalty. Before I had a chance to settle into that fantasy, however, she explained more and the DNA info dump didn't seem quite so fun anymore.
She hadn't paid several hundred dollars to discover that somewhere along the trail predominantly Asian and European ancestors had comingled with South American ones. No, she'd done it for health reasons. Huh?
She said the ancestry part was interesting, but her motivation for doing the DNA analysis was so she would know what illnesses, diseases and such that she might be genetically predisposed to. Now that she had the scientific data on all the possible things that could go wrong, she could create ways to prevent them. By knowing that 20 percent of people with one of her genetic markers got the higgly-piggly disease, she could do anti higgly-piggly things now to keep from getting it.
I admit, I was taken aback. So, let me get this straight. You're not having any health problems, but you had your DNA tested so you could get a list of things to worry about just in case? You're working from a checklist to map out a plan to avoid problems you don't have? Really? That's how you're going to spend your precious time on this planet?
Indeed, that's exactly what she'd done. Thanks to her handy DNA data, statistically, she knew that people with her genetic markers had a higher percentage of a list of specific dreaded conditions. So, she'd gotten busy, researched the possibilities, figured out the preventive measures for each and had totally revamped her life accordingly. She had radically changed her diet, was taking a long list of interesting supplements, as well as doing a host of other things.
Now, as you know, I am all for healthy choices and making changes that need made. Knowing that heart disease runs in your family, and living a heart-healthy lifestyle because of it, is great--essential even, for everyone! Going looking for something to worry about it a completely different animal.
If you sit around thinking about how people with high stress levels get hives, and since you've got a lot of stress, you hope you don't get hives, you're actually increasing your chances of breaking out in hives.
Instead, if you acknowledge your stress and focus on positive ways to relieve it and manage what's causing it, you create very different thoughts. You see very different scenarios playing out. Instead of hives, your positive view spurs creative thinking, which creates solutions, which relieves stress.
If genetic testing sounds like the thing for you, go for it. There are probably good reasons why it makes sense for some people. Just remember that whatever you focus on you get more of, so choose wisely.
You can spend your time worrying about all the things that might go wrong and distract yourself with planning what to do about them. Or, you can stop the nonsense and get busy living!
* * * * *
Paula Renaye is The Tough Love BFF Coach, empowerment speaker and five-time award-winning author. Her new book, Living the Life You Love--The No-Nonsense Guide to Total Transformation will be in stores in September. Read more at http://paularenaye.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment