My approach to health is based on the Trinity. The Father represents the past; that which came before – your genes, over which theoretically you have no control. You can be born cursed with a predisposition to genetic ailments, or blessed with a strong constitution. The Son represents the present; your diet, your exercise Here you do have control. Eat less, eat healthily, walk, work out. Yet for me, the important one is the Holy Spirit – the determination to be well, to stay well, or to heal. The metaphysical dimension to health. And talking of which, here's the Ghost in the Machine – the Turing Test-beating Google Imagen 3.0 – getting rather freaky! [Interesting to come back to this cartoon next Lent to see how AI has improved...]
At the core of the spirit is gratitude; it is the mindset of thankfulness. Or, as Google Gemini AI points out, appreciation. When you wake up and nothing aches – noticing that and being grateful for that is the foundation of remaining in good health. Getting complacent – taking your health for granted – is dangerous. Assuming that because you were healthy yesterday, you'll be healthy today and tomorrow. Take it one day at a time and be thankful the next day.
I have described myself as having Schrodinger's Health; I am both in amazingly good physical condition and at death's door with a hitherto-undiagnosed ailment at the same time – until a doctor examines me. A routine check-up is therefore an open invitation for a health scare.
Spontaneous remissions are not miracles, but stem from the mysteries of the placebo effect, which the pharmaceutical industry shies away from and the medical profession poo-poos. Belief in the power of belief is crucial. Materialists who place too much trust in medicine forego the potential healing effects of mind over matter. On the other hand, the antivaxxer community is a danger unto itself and unto others; smallpox, polio and other infectious diseases have been conquered by vaccines. A balance needs to be struck. We must balance faith in the body's power to heal itself with the support that is essential from medical science.
Having reached the age of 67, which is the most common age on male headstones in Chynów cemetery, I'm not going to bother fighting some future diagnosis of some terrible illness. The idea of going to doctors for a drawn out series of procedures and test is more disturbing than just slipping quietly towards moment of the parting of the body from consciousness.
Tomorrow – more about gratitude and its importance in life.
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