When health fails, everything else seems
to deteriorate. But because it comes for free, we tend to take this most
precious gift for granted. We do not often see how being healthy is essentially
the first important step towards living a dream. It is actually the only thing
that gives sense to any ordinary day.
Without health, we are reduced to
nothing but a mere weak mortal, who can really do nothing much. Even with
brilliant thoughts and ideas brewing inside the mind, we cannot put them to
use. Henri Frederic Amiel has said, “To
feel keenly the poetry of a morning's roses, one has to have just escaped from
the claws of this vulture which we call sickness.” True indeed, we cannot
wholly enjoy the beauty of nature when in sickness just as we cannot fully share
the simple joys of living with others. It becomes a strain to talk or even
listen when you are sick.
Even the most exciting plans take a
backseat, because then, you also realize that without that vigour and energy,
all the plans you’ve had in mind are of less significance. How fragile our
lives are! Without physical wellbeing, we would be just accompaniments, unable
to play our roles in its fullness, or sometimes, restricted from any human
activity at all.
We could dream so many dreams and make
so many plans, but at the end of the day, it’s really the quality of the deeds
we do, that counts. And when I say quality, it goes back to our health and
starts from where our energy carries us. It is truly the process of being
wealthy. Because when we lose our health, everything degenerates. And it takes
more than what it took to break, to actually build ourselves again.
Health, as I understand, is also one of
the keys to happiness. I cannot imagine being happy when being ill. It breaks
you down, not only physically but mentally and emotionally. But perhaps,
sickness also comes as a reminder for us to slow down, or to tell us that life
is so fragile. It can break down anytime and take us away to a more
enlightening place perhaps. To give us a little more time to think and look
back.
Sometimes being ill is also an
opportunity to learn. We can, in no way, be truly grateful for good health if
we never experience illness. I think it is the optimist’s perspective to be
grateful even in sickness, because it helps you understand and makes you
appreciate health even more when you have it.
But it is also true that we should take
care of ourselves because they say, even “health is in your hands.” I suppose
balancing everything in life is the key. To be judicious in work and leisure,
just as somebody has said, “It is essential to maintaining quality in life and
work.”
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