Good health - What can you do about it? March 4, 2008
Posted by caregiver in : good health , trackback“PARTLY as a result of some spectacular successes of modern medicine, an attitude has spread to many parts of the world that health is something the doctors provide for people, instead of something that a community and individuals achieve for themselves.” So wrote a doctor in World Health, the official journal of the World Health Organization.
Of course, doctors and hospitals do contribute a great deal to our health and well-being. Nonetheless, they play essentially a curative role. We seek their services when something is wrong, but we seldom think about them when we feel well. What, then, can we do to achieve good health for ourselves?
In general, experts are agreed that good health depends on three major factors: balanced diet,regular exercise, and responsible living. There is certainly no lack of information on these subjects, and much of it is practical and beneficial. Some pertinent and current ideas on how diet and exercise relate to our health are presented in the boxes “Your Diet and Your Health” and “Exercise, Fitness, and Health.”
Although much helpful information is available, the facts show, regrettably, that achieving good health is not very high on most people’s list of priorities. Among other things, “everybody knows what is required to lose weight,” remarked a doctor of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion in Washington, “yet the prevalence of overweight doesn’t seem to change much.” According to her office, about 1 in 4 people in the United States is more than 20 percent overweight.
Similarly, a study by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics reveals: “In general, between 1977 and 1983 there appears to have been an increase in unfavorable health practices.” What are these “unfavorable health practices”? They are not problems over which the individual has no control, such as malnutrition, epidemics, or pollution. Rather, they are factors that are entirely the responsibility of the individual—practices such as smoking, overeating, overdrinking, and drug abuse.
Clearly, more than medical or scientific information on what to do to achieve good health is needed. A greater incentive to live up to our individual responsibility is necessary. We must be motivated not only to do those things that will contribute to good health but also to avoid those things that will tear it down. Where can we find such incentive and motivation to help us live healthy lives?
Emotions and Outlook on Life
For example, “medical science recognizes that emotions such as fear, sorrow, envy, resentment and hatred are responsible for the majority of our sicknesses,” said the above-quoted Dr. McMillen. “Estimates vary from 60 per cent to nearly 100 per cent.”
What can be done to remedy this? Interestingly, an old saying points out: “A calm heart is the life of the fleshly organism, but jealousy is rottenness to the bones.”. But how does one get “a calm heart”? We must learn to control our emotions.
This, of course, is contrary to the advice of some modern psychiatrists and psychologists. They often recommend that we act out our feelings rather than try to control them. Letting off steam and venting one’s anger may bring temporary relief to the one who feels hemmed in and disturbed. But what does that do to his relationship with those around him, and what kind of reaction may that trigger on their part? It is not difficult to imagine the tension and frayed nerves, not to mention the possible physical injury, that would result if everyone acted out his feelings rather than tried to control them. It merely creates a vicious circle that never ends.
What do such positive feelings toward others do to us? “Caring is biological,” writes Dr. James Lynch in his book The Broken Heart. “The mandate to ‘love your neighbor as you love yourself’ is not just a moral mandate—it’s a physiological one.” Regarding the benefits that such positive relationships bring, Robert Taylor, a psychiatrist, adds: “Knowing you have people you can turn to in times of need can provide some very important feelings of security, optimism and hope—all of which can be great antidotes to stress.” Of course, it is not easy to master these harmful emotions, but if you begin replacing the harmful negative feelings with positive ones you will succeed, why don’t you begin right now?
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