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
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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.
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