RETROSPECT.
Several hundred pages have been devoted to those matters which must
receive attention in order to have good physical and mental health, so
as to be able to get the most out of life and give the most, that is, in
order to live fully. The basis of health is internal cleanliness, and to
attain this it is necessary to exercise self-control and moderation, as
well as to cultivate good will and kindliness towards others. Kindness
and love lubricate life and make the running smooth. Envy, spite, hatred
and the other negative emotions act like sand in the bearings, producing
friction in the vital machinery, which they destroy in the end.
Success in life means balance, poise, adjustment. We must adjust
ourselves so as to be in harmony with others, and we must be in harmony
with nature. Our minds will at times be in opposition to the laws of
nature. Then we must exercise enough self-control to bring them into
harmony again, for natural laws are no respecters of persons. It is said
that we break these laws, but that is not true. If we disregard them
often enough they break us. We must realize our unity with nature, our
at-one-ment. We must realize that we are a part of nature, not above it,
and hence that we are governed by the same fixed laws that govern the
rest of nature. These laws are for our good. Attempts to escape from
their workings indicate a lack of understanding.
Discord produces disease and death. Harmony leads to health and long
life.
The adjustment must be both physical and mental.
The physical part means to live or adjust ourselves so that all the
functions of the body are carried on normally. The body is
self-regulating and if we do nothing harmful health will be our portion.
However, life under our present civilization is so complex that the
demands upon our nervous systems are excessive. It is easy to live so
that we can have health, but to do so is not conventional, and hence not
very popular.
In order to have good physical health under present conditions, it is
necessary to make some effort. The effort is not great enough to be
onerous and does not require much time. It is important to get health
knowledge, which the majority lacks today. This knowledge is most
excellent, but it does not benefit the individual unless it is applied.
We all wish to have health, but this is not enough. We must will to have
it. When we say that we cannot, it should generally be interpreted to
mean that we will not.
Some important subjects regarding which special knowledge should be
secured are: Food, drink, exercise, care of the skin, sleep, work and
play, breathing, clothing, and mental attitude.
These subjects, as well as others, have been quite extensively
discussed. It is impossible to give full information in tabloid form. It
is also impossible to read a book of this character once and get all the
information it contains. Those who are in earnest will study the
subject, instead of merely reading it.
Allow me to remind you that nearly all of our diseases are due to faulty
dietary habits. So it was in the time of Hippocrates, according to that
sage, and so it is today. It is a common statement that about 90 per
cent. of our physical ills come from improper diet, and this is the
truth. It follows from this that it is most important to know about
correct feeding habits, and put them in practice. Improper diet results
in faulty nutrition, after which physical and mental ills make their
appearance.
There are many systems of feeding, and nearly all of them will bring
good results if the most important prescription is followed, namely,
moderation. Simplicity leads to moderation.
Those who are reasonable about their food intake often serve as targets
for the shafts of ridicule launched at them by those who are ignorant of
the subject or too self-indulgent to exercise a little self-control.
Ridicule is one of the most deadly of weapons, but it never harms those
who have the hardihood of getting down to basic facts and classifying
things and ideas according to their true value. Why should we be guided
by the wit and sarcasm of indolent voluptuaries who daily desecrate
their bodies through ruinous indulgences?
There is no need of becoming harsh and austere, nor is it necessary to
fall into deadly habits of self-indulgence. Sometimes we can go with the
current with benefit, but at times it is also necessary to paddle
up-stream. Life demands a certain amount of hardihood from those who
would live in health, and this comes not from self-indulgence, but from
self-denial. It is necessary to do almost daily something that we are
not inclined to do.
It is well to remember that if the eating is correct, it is difficult to
become physically deranged, and consequently to become mentally
deranged. Allow me to repeat four short sentences which are helpful and
most important guides, sentences which ought to form a part of every
child's education:
If ill, eat nothing, but live on water.
Eat only when there is a desire for food.
Masticate all foods thoroughly.
Always be moderate in your food intake.
These are the four golden rules regarding eating, and if they were
adhered to, they would save us from an incalculable amount of sin and
suffering. They would increase the duration of life and the joy of
living. They would add to our physical and mental prosperity. Hence they
are worthy of the emphasis given them.
In brief: Physical health is based on internal cleanliness, which can be
attained only through moderation, that is, by not habitually
overburdening the system, especially with food. Our bodies thrive when
used, but not when abused. It is necessary for our physical well-being
to get air, sunshine, water, food, sleep, rest, exercise, work and play
in proper proportion, and in addition cultivate a kindly, balanced
spirit. Drugs, such as alcohol, coffee, morphine, bromine, and hundreds
of others which could be named, are not only unnecessary, but harmful.
The mental side is as important as the physical side. With a healthy
body it is easy to have a happy outlook. Indigestion and biliousness can
make a dreary waste out of the most beautiful landscape. The body and
mind react and interact, one upon the other. When one is poised it is
easy to get the other into balance. It requires a poised body to produce
the best fruitage--a fine spirit.
It is necessary to be honest with one's self. Face life courageously and
honestly. If you do, you will soon realize that the physical and mental
ills from which you suffer are mostly of your own making. Then you can
choose whether to let them continue or to end them, but if you choose to
remain ill, bear your cross uncomplainingly, for you have no right to
afflict others with your self-imposed sufferings.
On the other hand, try to see life from the view point of others, and
you will often find that what you think is the highest good and most
desirable in life does not seem worthy of great effort to them. Variety
adds spice to life. To impose one's own views and ways on others has
always seemed desirable to the majority of people, but it is the height
of folly and stupidity. So long as the race exists there will be many
men of many minds, and it is best so. We can not force any benefit, such
as health or goodness, upon others. Instead of attracting, the process
of forcing repels.
What we can do mentally to benefit ourselves and others is to get
adjusted, to cultivate kindness and charity, to be broad-minded and
forgiving, to be slow to take and give offense, to accept the little
buffetings that fate has in store for us all with good grace, and
through it all to possess our souls in patience.
Physically, be moderate.
Mentally, cultivate equanimity.