One’s Lifestyle-Daily Meditation-July 23, 2021

Today’s quotation:

Attention to one’s lifestyle, especially in the direction of reducing emotional tensions, a modest but regular program
of daily exercise, a diet low in salt and sugar, and reasonably free of fatty meats and fried foods, and plenty of good
drinking water—all these are useful and indeed essential. -Norman Cousins

Today’s Meditation:

I like it when people stress the small, seemingly minor details of life.  Their reminders help to keep us aware of just how important it is to maintain our health in an active way.  It does take work to do so, and it is necessary to pay attention to what we eat and how often we eat.  The amount of work need not be so high, though, as long as we’re consistent in taking care of our health.

What could be more important to us than our health?  What other aspect of our life has such a strong day-to-day effect on how we feel and how we’re able to work and play and live and love?  Yet what other aspect of our lives is more neglected than our health, especially exercise and eating?  These are two of the major “victims” in our lives–as soon as we change jobs or homes or schedules, exercise is one of the first things that we give up to make room for other things.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say “I’m busier now, so I don’t have time to exercise.”

But the human body was not made to be sedentary, and it will suffer from a lack of regular activity.  Doctors and scientists have documented hundreds of symptoms of not exercising, and hundreds of benefits of regular exercise, yet many, many people find exercise to be too much of a hassle.

We’ve been given only one body, and how we treat it is up to us, and only us.  We can treat it with respect and have a body that won’t fall into disrepair and cause us innumerable aches and pains, or we can neglect it and add to our lives the many negative aspects of having less-than-optimal health.

Treating our body well helps us to feel better, to feel lighter, and more ready to take on the world, no matter what may come up.  Putting good food into our systems helps us to keep our blood flowing well, our organs functioning well, and our general state of well-being at a high level.

Questions to consider:

If we don’t take care of our bodies, who will?

Why should we set aside time each day for exercise, and pay attention to the types and quantity of foods that we eat?

What are some of the potential results of not taking care of our bodies?

For further thought:

The preservation of health is a duty.  Few seem conscious that there is such a thing as physical morality.-Herbert Spencer