We live in world where, more and more, we find an increasingly number of various health fads, fitness trends, longevity strategies, and the like. It seems that if your best friend is not trying to get you to join the spa or gym, or get you to walk with them in the mornings at the track, a coworker or relative is proselytizing on the many benefits of a vegetarian diet. Even the foods we eat boast of being fat-free, low-sodium, reduced-calorie or possessing some other “magic bullet.”
However, in light of the many recent, tragic world events that not only have changed how we will live forever, but also highlight just how fragile life is, many of us may now wonder, “What’s the use of putting all this effort into being healthy, when it could all be over in a matter of seconds?”
Good question!
Now, please allow me to provide what I consider to be a good answer.
You see, being healthy is not about doing things to prolong your life. It’s about your quality of life! When we take the concept of “quality of life” into consideration, we open our minds to deeper meanings and a better understanding of what true health and wellness means. Many of the strategies used in acquiring “good health” requires specific actions (or causes, as I like to refer to them) that impact on many aspects of the world/environment around us.
Let me break it down a little further.
Take for example, the person, who has high blood pressure, and eventually realizes that they can neither control, nor treat it effectively with prescription medicines alone. This person has, over a period of 10 or 15 years, tried 4,5, or 6 different medications, prescribed by their doctor, only to see their blood pressure more difficult to control. It seems that the more compliant (you know, doing things exactly as the doctor says) and consistent they are with taking their medications, the more disappointing the results seem.
On top of this, the appearance of various side effects from the medications can begin to manifest. Our friend has finally reached a “point of intolerance”; where no longer can this type of “life” be accepted. It’s kind of like Marvin Gaye said, “ This ain’t living. Makes you wanna holler, throw up both your hands and shout…”
A wonderful and mystical thing happens at this moment. This person begins a process that I have come to understand as Human Revolution.
Now, now.
I know what you’re probably thinking. No, I’m not talking about starting a revolt where society-at-large launches massive efforts to “tar and feather” all doctors. Instead, this, for many of us, it is a new beginning. The start of looking at life, and the world, in a totally different way. In fact, it’s actually becomes a new way of living.
As we, from this point, start to become open-minded to the possibility that somehow, we are not “living” correctly, one by one, new insights into how our bodies are designed to properly function begin to appear. Things start to click in our minds that point to basic, fundamental flaws in many of our diet and /or lifestyle choices that affect our health. We begin to lean so heavily on the words “heredity” and “unavoidable” when we talk about the myriad of diseases and disorders that plague our friends and families.
For the first time, we find ourselves questioning whether there might actually be a connection between our health conditions and some of the ways we have “modernized” our lives with, among other things, processed foods, sedentary lifestyles, and diets loaded with saturated fats. Further examination reveals the extent we constantly ignore many blatant and obvious truths, so that we can live our “Great American Way of Life.” You know, “Two chickens in every pot. A car in every garage.”
Oh, now you want to act like you aren’t following me, huh. What’s the matter, did I touch a nerve?
Okay, since you want to play it that way, let me lay out a few examples:
- When was the last time you looked into what a Hot Dog or Lunch Meat is made out of and how it is processed and packaged?
- Why are cigarettes still being legally sold and used, exposing our families, as well as, ourselves to some of the most deadly cancer-causing substances known?
- Do you ever stop and think about how many people are hopelessly addicted to alcohol and tobacco products, yet we don’t make any efforts to make them illegal?
- How can we sit back and allow the planet to be subjected to the massive amounts of pollutants from various industries that disregard their impact on our children and the world they will have to live in?
- What’s the rational behind alcohol, the most deadly drug known, responsible for more death and diseases than any other, being considered socially acceptable?
- Why would anyone knowingly allow substances in commonly used products like toothpaste, which carry a warning on the label stating that “if swallowed, contact Poison Control Center immediately?
- How about the meat and poultry supply in this nation that, across-the-board, is comprised of meat products which are filled with antibiotics and steroids?
- Has it ever cross your mind that America is the wealthiest, most technologically advanced, and informed country in the world, yet the collective health of its citizens merits it to rank 36th on a list ranking the health status of countries around the world?
You could pick any one of the statements above and expand it into a complete column. They each by themselves pose a threat that could nearly wipe out our communities. Yet, they are all circumstances that we find to be acceptable in our everyday lives.
Think about it, we think that it’s actually okay to reward our children for good behavior or good deeds by taking them out for a “Happy Meal.” Now take moment and think about what the “meal” is comprised of. Do you have any idea what a “chicken nugget” is? It’s all the left over, unused parts of a chicken – the parts of the chicken no one in their right mind would go near. Even Good Ol’ Dave, in spite of having had quadruple by-pass surgery as a result of years of him being on a artery-clogging diet (and subsequently died), still encourages you to try his “ double-cheese-bacon burger, with all the toppings!”
As we break it all down, we look around at all of the current “epidemics” in our society’s health. We see Heart Disease, Arthritis, Diabetes, Kidney Failure, Cancer, AIDS, Asthma, Lupus, etc., etc., etc.
I don’t imply that there aren’t significant treatments, preventive measures, and breakthroughs in research.
I do believe that the “epidemic” nature of these maladies is a symptom that is indicative of the fact that we are living lives that are in conflict with the universal laws that governs all living things in nature.
Now follow me on this.
There is a universal law that, when adhered to, allows living things to grow and thrive in a healthy way. Because people and their environment are inseparable, once life is lived out of “harmony” with the universal law, disharmony and “sickness” is the result. The more we distant ourselves from the harmony that should exist in nature, and violate the natural order of things, the “sicker” we become physically. Hey, after all, consistency from beginning to end! You see, if you are living out of harmony with the universal laws, it impacts your daily life. The thoughts, choices, and actions each day are not ones that tend to be in harmony. Thus, we end up seeing the effects of these causes manifest in the “epidemics” of various diseases and disorders.
I know, I know, this is “deep” stuff. But, please, I only ask you to be open-minded and explore the possibilities.
Once again, it should not be our focus to get more years out of years, but more life out of our years. We all must begin to look at our basic outlook on life, and our respect for the existence of universal laws that govern all life, which insists on order and harmony. In so doing, we can truly make a difference in the quality of life we experience.
As my friend Dick Gregory says, “ I don’t mind dying. I just want to be healthy until I do.”
Remember, I am not a doctor. I just sound like one. If you have a serious health condition, please seek the proper medical attention.