To be healthy, we should shift our focus
from what we need to do to be healthy to who we must become. Too
often we treat our physical health as if it were something external
to us that can be perfected by popping enough pills, consuming enough
low-calorie drinks, or eating enough cholesterol free foods. This
“Cartesian” approach to physical health, as Dr. Weil
aptly puts it, is limiting because it encourages a fragmented approach
to wellness. It tricks us into thinking we can be healthy—
whole— by simply attending to our physiological needs. This
is tantamount to cutting off the roots of a plant and watering it
with the purest water. Clearly, a plant has other needs. It needs
sunshine and it needs to be rooted in adequate soil. If we ignore
the plant’s need for sunshine it will eventually wither away
and die. Likewise, if the plant is planted in shallow soil, it will
dry up. The plant’s need for water cannot be separated from
its need for sunshine and soil. These needs, though specific and
distinct, serve one purpose: the health of the plant. We see then,
that our health is not served simply by attending to the needs of
the body. Certainly the body may survive for a period if it receives
sufficient nourishment and adequate exercise, but survival does
not constitute health. We are not healthy until we are happy. To
be happy, the human mind must be illumined by the light of spiritual
truth. Our entire beings—body, mind, and soul—must be
rooted to the spiritual source that brought us into being.
When we visit the doctor, he or she checks our vitals to determine
our health. Our blood is checked for disease. Our eyes, ears and
internal organs, through a variety of scientific measures, are
evaluated to rule out any presence of infection or dysfunction.
If we are found to be free of disease, and our vital signs are
within normal ranges we are declared to be healthy. But is a person
truly healthy when his body is working normally but his mind is
unsettled and burdened?
The human being cannot be separated from his spiritual reality.
Though this reality cannot be heard with a stethoscope or examined
under a microscope, it is real and vital to our existence. Surgery
cannot remove cancerous thoughts, and pills, no matter how powerful,
cannot
change the momentum of the will. True health begins with a balanced
mind that is
molded by the higher will of the soul.
Deshon M. Fox |
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