Don't you hate when you hear " At least you got your health. " ? [ details ]?

I think that this question would be better suited in the social section. But, if you haven’t already been contacted by a moderator, than you sould just ignore me.

No.
I can totally relate to feeling like hell,so if I have a choice between money and health,I will choose health.

No I don’t hate when people say that, as a matter of fact it makes me stop and think. They are right. Having my health, mental and physical…I actually have everything. And what I don’t have, being physically and mentally healthy, I should be able to get.

What is annoying about that is that it is kind of condescending. People mean well. They are trying to point out that it could be worse. But when you’re trying to pay off that dealer, you don’t want to hear about your health. You want cash. It’s hard to see beyond that.

When you have a moment where the desperation is not so strong, you might be able to stop and think about it. When people say ALYGYH, they are reminding you that it is helpful to be grateful for what you do have. When you focus on what you don’t have, you can drive yourself into hell. If you are grateful for what you do have, you focus on the positive, and that helps.

It’s like when your house burns down and someone says, “Well, at least you’re still alive.” As long as you’re alive and healthy, you can do something. If you think about that idea, it can take the edge off your disappointment and anger and fear.

Maybe you don’t want to be reminded about that at the time. It can seem so smug. But I don’t mind any more. I’ve been in a place where I didn’t have my health, and it was hell. I’m not kidding. It was the worst pain I can imagine (and I couldn’t have imagined it before it happened). When you lose your health like that, you can come damn close to dying, as I did.

I’m sorry, but having my health is something I am very grateful for. I didn’t always have it, and it nearly killed me.

Nope, it reminds me to appreciate what I have. My health was on shaky ground once so as long as I have that, I’m grateful.

If you ever suffer a big health issue you will take your words back. For nine years my heart wouldn’t beat in proper function (lone atrial fibrillation) and my life was miserable even though everything else in my life was very good. I would have given up everything in order to just have my heart beat in normal rhythm. Last June a heart arrhythmia specialist fixed my heart with an ablation procedure. It is like winning a huge jackpot lottery for me (and my family).

Good health truly is your most prized possession.

Me, I am grateful that I can still enjoy the taste of good food, the feel of the sun on my skin, enjoy the sights and sounds of life around me. Good health is a gift to be savoured. Make the most of it while it lasts.

When you don’t have your health and are dying then you may understand that no matter what else goes wrong you can always recoup from it, you loose your job – you find another whether you have to find a new career in order to do so, you loose your s/o – well we all heal from heartache, its hard but we can move on and meet new people. But health if you are dying is worth everything and you can’t get it back no matter how you wish you had it. I have seen alot of death and sickness in my life and all I can say I am more than happy to go through lifes ups and downs then get diagnosed with a terminal illness, thank you very much!!!!!

I guess there is a time and place for just about everything. Most people make this comment, without knowing your personal situation. It’s like saying “have a nice day”. Some people hate this saying and they believe it infringes on their personal space. I agree to some degree with both of these sayings.

The recepient of such sayings, hopefully is in a good mood, when those words are spoken.

They have never bothered me.

That phrase sounded very stupid to me until I didn’t have my health and I realized how much I had been taking it for granted.

It is the fallacy of the false alternative.

If I were in prison, had lost my job, and had lost my spouse, it would not make me feel better if I were sick too.

What’s more, when I’ve been really ill, it was very difficult to enjoy having a job, having a spouse, and not being in prison.

If you’re in prison, @Hibernate, I can see why you don’t want to hear this, but I don’t think anyone means you any harm by it.

I get pretty pissed when people say that to me. That line is so cliche and it usually means that they don’t really care. :/

I think the phrase has a certain meaning to everyone. I wouldn’t find it annoying because my health is all I want for myself. I can understand why you would feel that way though. I am sending you some good e-vibes!

It doesn’t annoy me, but it makes me realize that few people know how to react to hearing about difficult situations except with platitudes. What would you like them to say? “I’m glad I’m not in your shoes?” “I’ll keep you in my prayers?” “What can I say, dear, after I’ve said I’m sorry?” “Tough shit?”

Young, otherwise healthy people don’t worry much about their health, it’s a given for them. But it fades for most of us and we can think back to the times when we didn’t need to take a pill for everything we do. Health is way better that money or possessions trust me.

No. It makes me think you are very young if this phrase irritates you.

I hate it because I don’t have my health. Thanks for reminding me, jerk!

I don’t have my health. I wouldn’t give up my kids and I don’t have any money, no SO, can’t do a job. I’d want health back if I had a chance. But, I agree, it’s a stupid thing to say. It’s like my hurt is worse than your hurt or don’t feel bad, people are dying.

I don’t really hate it when people say that. Perhaps it can be annoying.. but in such a situation, they are just trying to steer you towards the positive things in life, and not the gloomy ones. They aren’t trying to be rude, maybe they are near speechless.

Would you and your friends have felt better if people would say to you that you’ve lost everything and have nothing left ?

If pointing out the positive aspects doesn’t make you feel better, then what does ?

I’ve been fighting Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on and off since I was 24 in 2002. Not having my health has made me think…...Man I wish I just had my health. Even during my longest stint in remission about 20 months I was still worn down, tired, unmotivated and visiting the Oncologist every other week, so In hind sight if I were afforded the opportunity for someone to say “At least you have your health” I may not look at the Sympathetic declaration in such a negative way.
I’m not saying this for sympathy by the way because for the record….Cancer was the best diet that I have ever been on…...Oh yeah my sick sense of humor got me through this ongoing rough spot in my life and at times I also wished I had a million dollars, X-ray vision (which i suppose is still possible because of all the chemo and radiation) and the ability to read woman’s minds (it seemed to work for Mel Gibson…. in the movies but obviously not in real life).

Yes, because being grateful for what you have doesn’t really fix things. If all you can see what you do have, you’ll never get so sick of all the problems that you do something about it. I think this idea that it’s better to be happy and humble and generally in a Pollyanna mood than to do something about it that requires anger is a real issue we have in our society.

I don’t think you should react badly when someone says ALYGYH to you. Why be so bothered by such minutiae? At least the person doesn’t say something like “Did you lose your wife because you messed around?” or “Did you two have problems in your sexual life?”

It’s not good to be so sensitive to everything people tell us. If one is so bothered by such trivial sayings, how will he/she be able to deal with more harsher, more personally critical words?

Besides, there is some truth to the adage. Without one’s health, nothing else really matters, right? If you don’t have good health and you are seriously ill, how can you work, how can you enjoy or even just subsist?

Not really. Its better than saying you have nothing to live for. Except for someone gunning after you, everything else can be fixed.
You can find another job.
You can find love again.
You can use your time in prison to get a better education. (Unless you have a life sentence than, too bad, so sad.: (
But if you ever lose your health than you will realize how it then feels to lose everything. Not everything is curable and many illness can be quite painful as well. You may then wish someone did cap your ass.

I almost agree with you as when you hear it, it comes when you least want to hear it but in the end it’s true! Without good health not much else can happen and once you lose your “good health” everything in your life comes grinding to a halt.

If you have good health, then you can overcome a lot of things in the long run, even if it means working hard at things you don’t want to do. Being broke and having a drug dealer want to cap your ass somewhere along the line has a correlation to decisions that you’ve made.

@Jeruba i’m not ^^ Though i visited one a few times and i heard it a lot during conversations there.

Oh guys and overall good health doesn’t mean you can overcome a lot of troubles.

I have not read the above answers.

I hated when people said, “at least you have your health,” when I was in my early 20’s and had a break up with my boyfriend that sent me into a tail spin or anxiety and depression. The thing is, I was young, and had always been healthy.

Now that I am older and have had some really sucky healthy problems, I agree, having your health is the most important thing in life. But, of course, many many things are important, and when someine cannot pay their bills, or loses a loved one, it is life altering just like health problems.

No, to me it is a reminder that things could actually be a lot worse, and it should be taken as uplifting, not annoying.

No, I don’t hate it. Because it’s true.

The phrase is a very old one. It pre-dates modern medicine. It refers to major illness, like polio, Scarlett fever, bubonic plague, etc.

All of the examples you mentioned, “I’m broke….So what if some drug dealer wants to cap my ass….you lose your job….you lose your wife…..you’re in prison..” All of those things are within your control. There is something you can DO about each and every one of them. Being sick isn’t anything, for the most part, that you can do much about.

So stop whining and be glad you have your health.

@JLeslie….I can’t imagine anyone saying to someone who had lost a loved one, like at the funeral or something, “Well, at least you have your health!” There’d a second funeral on the way!!

@Dutchess_III not at the funeral, but someone who stays in mourning longer than is comfortable to others mit be told after two years of not going out, “your young, you have your health, you have to move forward.” Or, after a break up, maybe the person did not die, but is not longer in the persons life, they might be told they have their health, they shohld be greatful for the good things in life and move on.

I agree with you about being able to DO something,

Yes, I do hate it because the person saying “At least you have your health” is making an assumption about which they can’t be certain. I hate when people make assumptions.

Not to mention that a person can never be healthy. There’s always something wrong with your health even if you don’t feel it.

There are times when ALYHYH needs to be said. A woman I knew at work told me about a neighbour of hers, who was living in state-provided housing. This was back in the early sixties. Her husband lost his job and they were unable to pay the housing authority. The neighbour reacted by weeping and having hysterical fits: and my friend told her, “You have two hands, two eyes and a brain. Get up and do something.” Apparently the advice “took.” My friend, by the bye, was the kind of woman who would, and did, sell tolum (a sweet made with molasses), tamarind balls, and sugar cake outside the nearest school in order to make up the rent.

That’s what I don’t get about people on disability, @bea2345—most of them CAN do something productive. Something that doesn’t require very physical labor…