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HOW WELL IS WELL? Perhaps you have never asked yourself this
question. It will prove interesting to think about it a moment and
doing so may start a train of thought which will carry you into a
state of happiness you have not known before. When do you think of
yourself as being well? When you are free from aches and pains? When
you can do your normal work without exhaustion? The questions which
could be asked are numerous, but the big question is: Even if you
are free from aches and pains and are able to do your regular work
without exhaustion is it possible for you to feel still better?
The pinnacle of well-being is mental and physical vibrancy, when you
can throw your entire enthusiastic self into anything you do whether
work or play; when your mind is free from worry, because you accept
the problems of the day as a challenge instead of approaching them
with fear; when your heart is free from hatred because you have eyes
which look only for the good in others; and when your today's are
better than your yesterdays, and your tomorrows are looked forward
to with joyous anticipation.
Following are ten simple steps for radiant mental and physical
health, which are all you need to develop a health consciousness:
1. Have an incentive to want to be actively alive—on top of the
world. We can do almost anything if we really want to. This
applies to physical well-being as much as it does to anything else.
We might go through the motions of doing things intended for better
health, but, unless our actions are backed by a burning desire to
succeed, we need not look for spectacular and glowing results.
It's wonderful to feel good, to have that up-and-at-'em feeling, but
before we can make progress in creating such a feeling, we must have
a mighty good reason for doing so.
Step 1, therefore, is to acquire an incentive—a valid reason for
wanting every fiber of your being to effervesce with vibrant energy.
Only a few suggestions will be offered as thought starters, but for
the real incentives, explore that mind of yours to learn just what
it is you would like to accomplish—or be.
Would you like to be a power in your community? Would you like to
have the type of personality which sways people? Forcefulness is not
a question of how you pitch your voice, or how loud you talk. It is
a reflection of a mind alert and a body dynamically alive and
vigorous.
Would you like to have a large circle of admiring friends? Would you
like to be the one singled out for your opinion and advice, because
there is something about you which spells authority?
Would you like to be elected to important posts in your lodge or
club, because of your personal magnetism?
Perhaps your desires might run along the lines of personal
accomplishment. You may have said: "I would take up the study of
music, if I felt better." Or, it might have been painting or the
mastering of one of the many crafts.
I may be a thousand miles from anything which nearly approaches your
own incentive. You may be single and give anything for the right
mate, but feel you do not have the youth or physical attractiveness
to interest the opposite sex.
But, regardless of what your desires are, get an incentive which
will give you a reason to want to be on top physically and mentally;
then you will be in a position to get the maximum good from the
steps which follow.
2. Know you CAN gain better health and live longer. The only
people who have ever accomplished anything are those who knew they
could. To approach any task with doubt in your mind about your
ability to do it is a certain step toward failure.
Buoyant health is not something we acquire by luck. It is a
reflection of the way we think and the way we live. Bodies which
creak with aches and pains are not given to us by Fate as a
punishment of some kind. We have them because of the way we live and
think.
The mistake which most people make is to think that the price we pay
for a joyous state of well-being is so high, the reward is not worth
the effort. How utterly wrong!
One might say that sacrifice is part of the price we pay for a
vigorously alive body. But is it? Let us take a few habits as
examples. Think of those who smoke to excess and whose hands shake
if they are without a cigarette for a few moments. Would it be a
sacrifice if they were to practice moderation to the extent that a
smoke would be enjoyable, instead of a means to keep from suffering?
Think of those who drink too much. Is the intense suffering from a
hangover the reward they gain from the habit? Would it be a
sacrifice to suggest moderation, that a drink could be taken now and
then for sociability, instead of being the means of shearing one of
all semblance of culture and refinement?
At first thought it may be hard to believe that we make more
sacrifices with an ailing body than we do to have and maintain a
glad-to-be-alive body. Think it over and you'll quickly agree.
Reflect over the many things you could and would have done, had you
felt like it. Think of the places you would have visited, had you
the mental and physical spirit to do so. And think of the countless
hours of feeling just "half fit."
Your judgment tells you that if you embark on a program aimed at
glorious health, you can accomplish it. So, Step 2 is to know you
can gain better health and live longer.
It may be necessary to resort to a bit of mental discipline in
developing a better health consciousness. If, for years, you have
been seeing yourself as one under par physically, it will take an
effort to get yourself to the point where you know, beyond doubt,
you can enjoy radiant health. Motion creates emotion, we learn, so,
for a few days, hold to the thought: I CAN gain robust health.
Of course, accepting the thought that you can gain better health is
not enough. You must take the steps which will make better health a
reality. In other words, the realization that good health is within
your grasp must be brought into reality by action.
3. Get your mind in order. As you learned in the previous
chapter, the word "psychosomatic" is now frequently heard in
connection with illnesses of various kinds. Doctors are including
many, many ailments in a long list of those which are originated in
the mind. This fact does not mean that a psychosomatically sick
person is insane; it merely means that most psychosomatic conditions
result from fear and worry.
Stomach ulcers are thought of as originating mostly in the mind;
"strain" we call it, but what is mental strain other than worry over
certain conditions, or our vivid fear that we will prove to be
inadequate to cope with them?
My definition of worry is holding mental pictures of things we do
not want, instead of things we do want. Think about this a moment,
and you'll agree.
We might also say that worry is evidence of doubt in our ability to
solve the problem which is causing the worry. Perhaps if we look at
it from this angle, we might stiffen our spines a bit and prove to
ourselves and others that we are bigger than the object of our
worry, and will do what is necessary to change it.
Realize that worry never helps anything. To the contrary, it impairs
health and blocks happiness.
Self-mastery is a reward which comes to the one who can conquer fear
and worry—and they are easy to conquer—if one will accept and act
upon the truth: "Worry prevents our doing the very thing which will
provide the means to prevent the worry."
4. Learn the things you should and should not do! A sage once
said: "Success comes from doing the things you know you ought to do,
and not doing the things you know you ought not to do."
It could wisely be said that invigorating health would result from
following this sane advice. But, of first importance is to know
exactly what you should and should not do.
Where can this vital information be obtained?
The moment we become imbued with any thought, we become almost a
magnet for information on that subject. We are attracted to books
and periodicals covering various phases of it. Our minds and
thoughts dwell upon it.
"A fault discovered is half overcome," I learned when just a boy. I
believe if I were to take exuberant health as an objective, the
first thing I would want to know is the condition of my body at
present. I would, therefore, let my doctor give me a head-to-toe
examination, so I would learn many of the things I should and should
not do regarding my physical being.
An architect visualizes his ideas as they come to him. At his
drawing board, and with his instruments, he develops his thoughts
objectively. Since we are architects of our own beings and affairs,
it would be well to begin by listing those things we should and
should not do in our pursuit of glowing health.
A plan of action should be conceived which would include activity on
the things we should do, and discipline in avoiding the things we
should not do.
Naturally our program of action will include supervision over the
food we eat. But here and now let me say that eating for robust
health does not mean giving up the things you like in favor of those
you do not enjoy.
Vitamins and minerals are as essential to vibrant health as light
and water are to plants. To have a deficiency of either vitamins or
minerals means living in a body under par physically, one which will
break down many years before it should.
A startlingly large percentage of people suffers from malnutrition,
not because they are eating too little, but because the foods they
do eat are deficient in the elements necessary for health.
Selecting a diet of items recognized for certain vitamins and
minerals is no assurance that they are being obtained. Good virgin
soils hold an abundance of the minerals essential to good health
but, in all parts of the country, these minerals are being used up
much faster than nature or the farmer can put them back again. They
are used up by over cropping, carried away by erosion, washed out by
rains.
Vitamins are not food. They do not turn into blood, flesh and bone,
or supply energy with their substance as foodstuffs do. They act
instead as important links in the chemical processes by which the
body turns food into tissues, removes waste products, and produces
energy. Without vitamins these vital processes could not go on.
Selecting food with care is always a wise precaution, but the one
determined to have scintillating, glad-to-be-alive health, will not
risk getting all essential elements from foodstuffs presumed to
contain them, but will make certain of a balanced diet by adding
food supplements obtained from a reliable source.
5. Develop an ENTHUSIASM to do and not to do! Acquiring the
facts just given is essential in reaching our objective: Radiant
Mental and Physical Health; but, merely acquiring this information
is not enough. We must develop an enthusiasm for carrying through;
for putting into operation the plans which will insure radiant
health.
There is one word, common to most of us, which has been responsible
for many of our failures in life. That word is tomorrow. How often
do we learn of something which would be of help to us, and we
resolve to do it—tomorrow? And, of course, tomorrow never comes.
If you have been reading with a serious mind, you are
enthusiastic—right now! You are beginning to see vistas of thrilling
happiness with a sparkling mind backed by a dynamic body. Problems
which have heretofore been worries to you now appear as challenges.
But, as you peep behind the curtain and envision your new future, do
not allow procrastination to make you think of tomorrow as a
starting point. Start right now; the moment you lay this book aside.
The start need not be a physical one, doing something the eyes can
see.
The start can be your resolve; your resolution that, since your
rightful heritage is vibrant mental and physical health, you, from
this moment onward, will do everything within your power to make it
a part of your existence.
6. Take years off of your life through your actions! Motion
creates emotion. The men and women who make pals of their children
and who enter into the activities of youth will remain young far
longer than the parents who live like traditionally old-fashioned
mothers and fathers.
We can't act young without feeling young, and when we feel young, we
are putting the processes of Nature to work toward making us young.
Dancing, swimming, rowing, hiking, are a few of the activities which
promote physical well-being. But, right here, in connection with
these pastimes, there is a thought of considerable importance. Do
not do anything merely because you think it will be good for you.
Since, as we learned in Step 2, there is a definite relationship
between mind and body, learn to like the things you do. If you
dance, enjoy it to the fullest extent, and you will gain from the
combination of psychological and physiological benefits. This holds
true with all other forms of exercise. The more you like them, the
greater will be your benefit.
Our clothing plays an important part in the way we feel. If we wear
drab garments, we do not feel as gay as when we dress colorfully.
Although it is always imperative to use good taste, there is no rule
against wearing clothes which express our cheerfulness.
What did you enjoy doing ten, twenty or perhaps thirty years ago?
Try to renew your interest in it. You may find the years literally
rolling off your age as you do so.
7. Go on a mental diet. Again referring to psychosomatic
ailments, those physical conditions which emanate from mind, I would
dare to say that a mental diet is more important than a physical
one.
As you have been learning throughout this book, negative thoughts
produce negative reactions. An old philosopher once said: "Seek thy
comrades among the industrious, because the idle will sap thy energy
from thee." Whether or not this is true, remember some of the visits
you have had with those whose conversation is confined to subjects
of gloom and disaster. Remember how gloomy you were when you left
them? On the other hand, think of times spent with the optimistic,
hopeful ones, and you will remember feeling inspired, and wanting to
do big things yourself.
Discipline yourself to think in terms of health and happiness.
Select reading matter which will encourage you to climb to greater
heights.
Do not indulge in negative conversation. When writing letters, see
how much encouragement you can give, instead of making them
dissertations of woe.
The secret of happiness is not in doing the things you like to do,
but in liking the things you have to do. The acceptance of this
thought will be a forward step in your mental diet.
In Step 5 you determined to abandon the word tomorrow from your
vocabulary as far as procrastination is concerned. This definitely
applies to your mental diet. You are on it—right now.
8. Teach others how to have radiant mental and physical health.
It is true that happiness comes from giving happiness, and that to
teach others how to gain radiant mental and physical health would
make us extremely happy. There is, however, another reason for the
suggestion given in this step.
We cannot successfully teach anything to others without setting an
example. It would be incongruous to tell others how to be joyfully
alive and exuberant, if we were to drag ourselves along looking only
half alive. We want to show what life means to us, so that it will
be an inspiration for others to follow our example.
Since charity begins at home, persuade the various members of your
family to join with you in attaining radiant mental and physical
health.
Start a movement among those with whom you work, not only for the
good you will be doing them, but for what it will do for you.
Practically everything we do in life is based upon habit. We live
according to the habit patterns we have created. Some habits are
good; some are not. In following Step 8, you are unconsciously
training yourself to create and live according to new and highly
beneficial habit patterns.
9. Live correctly! These two words could lead you into many
different avenues of thought. They could refer to your food, to your
habits, to your whole mode of living.
"Let your conscience be your guide" is the meaning I wish to convey.
To talk about our relationships with others may seem a far cry from
the rudiments of good health, but psychologists know that the things
we do that challenge our self-respect are reflected in our physical
condition.
A person who is not dependable never enjoys the vibrant health
common to the one who is respected for his dependability. An
unpunctual person is not on top of the world physically. Why?
Because something psychological is disturbing him within.
Subconsciously he loses a certain amount of self-respect, and a
psychosomatic illness is usually the result.
In connection with Step 9, I cannot neglect disposition. One with a
bad disposition never enjoys vigorous health. Pages could be written
proving how a bad disposition undermines happiness and success, but
for its effect on your health—ask your doctor. Ask him to explain
how anger actually releases a poison in the blood stream which
retards the digestion and encourages any one of a long list of
maladies.
Anger and reason do not go together, as evidenced by the fact that
when we are angry, we say and do many things we later regret. You
can see, therefore, that by giving in to anger, you are literally
retarding your progress, and doing immeasurable harm to your
physical being.
10. Be happy! A prominent and successful doctor once said
that a happy person is seldom ill, but that when he is, he responds
to treatment much faster than other people. You will have no
difficulty in agreeing with this doctor, if you will reflect a
moment. You know you feel much better, physically, when you are
happy than you do when you are sad and depressed. You also know that
when you are not quite up to par, and something happens to cause
great elation, you at once feel better. This will show you why the
two words Be Happy make a fitting conclusion to these 10 Steps for
Radiant Mental and Physical Health.
Happiness comes from within. You now have—and always will have—all
the happiness there is. To be happy is merely to express happiness.
And to express happiness is to take a great step forward toward
acquiring inexhaustible, glowing health.
You now have the 10 Steps, but this is only the beginning. From this
moment onward, they are to become a part of your daily routine.
Think about them; practice them; live them.
A new and incredibly joyous life awaits you.
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