On my personal soapbox: We are not victims!!

I was skimming through the news today and the title of an article caught my interest,

"Choices, not genetics, to blame for heart attacks, researchers say."

It was an article talking about research that is showing that having a heart attack is not related to genetics. Coronary Heart Disease can be genetically linked (which can be the cause of a heart attack), but that doesn't mean that we can't prevent it from happening. There are things we can do. We are not victims of circumstance.
This subject is a an area of constant study for me...brought on by my own diagnosis of Hashimoto's Thyroiditis which is autoimmune. I don't know about you, but until a few years ago, when I heard the word autoimmune, I immediately had the mindset that it is outside of the patient's control. As I have researched the information out there, including the not-so-mainstream information, I have learned otherwise.
As I learn about holistic medicine, I am awed by the strength and the abilities that our bodies have to self-heal--if they have what they need...rest, nutrients, a spiritual connection, and even inner-awareness. There is more to us than what meets the eye. We are a whole organism, and this includes a part of us that can't be seen or touched. Just because we don't understand it, doesn't make it any less real.
So we can throw out the victim mentality. What we can do is awaken to the truth, have the humility to admit that the choices we make have consequences, and then do everything we can to adapt our lifestyle to achieve optimal health.