Wellness

September 7, 2014

When I was ten years old we moved to Mesa, Arizona in a remodeled house on Sixth Avenue. The house was a converted mobile home on a long, lean strip of land that had an abundance of goodies a ten-year old could enjoy; Lots of hiding places, a big grassy front yard, and quiet streets on which to ride bicycles. I don’t remember how it happened, but I became so ill that mother and dad took me to the hospital right next to Franklin Elementary where I attended school as a fifth grader. The diagnosis was amebic dysentery.  I remember this so well because my parents were not inclined to go to medical people so I knew this had to be something gigantic. The story I could put together was that I had eaten some spoiled lettuce, causing the dysentery.

This was my first incursion into the myriad of questions dealing with the well worn phrase, “what you are is what you eat.” What a curious thought! We intake tons of food in our life time and most of it goes to the right places at the right time. We have special goodies in our bodies which reject the bad stuff and others that use the ingredients to build and strengthen our bodies. Continuing in this vein; we intake gigantic amounts of air; which is gleaned of oxygen; which goes to our blood supply; which in turn makes us have energy. Then we look around the sky to see mass doses of pollutants and wonder why we are ill; why we have to start taking a medication that will help us breath better. When that medication doesn’t work well enough, we get another which does a fair job; and the journey goes on until we have more pills that time to take them.

Medical folks all have access to their big pharma scripts on their smart phones telling them which pills one can take and how each pill will interact with the other. I can’t help thinking about another well worn phrase regarding, “the fox guarding the hen house. In a recent advertisement video the voice noted that their company had a marvelous, practical, simple plan through which one could lose weight, feel better, etc. The story went on to explain that their plan had been crafted by a well established researcher working at a prestigious university in California. When the plan was shared by the researcher with those in his university research circle, they all admired and oooohed and aaaawed over the plan. When asked to have their endorsement of his research, they declined stating that they couldn’t endorse anything like his research because his plan didn’t call for any drugs, only personal attention to what was eaten.

I bought this plan for a whole $39 dollars. I don’t have any ideas if it will give me $39 dollars worth of comfort. I do know that it is simple, unadulterated with chemicals and a nice idea. Time will tell. I may get bored of this one and try something else, or I may become youthful, beautiful, and have a full head of dark brown hair at 71.

Last week I spoke of planning. Some thought I was talking about dying; but I was really talking about using my time on earth as wisely as I possibly could through learning as much as I possibly could so I could help those around me in any small way I could. My job is not to put a hex on big pharma, or anything else. My job is to look carefully at each and every item I ingest ensuring that I understand better than any outside influence what each bite of food, each breath of air, each drink of water, each herb, each chemical will do to make me healthier or weaker.

Just like Jamie’s paradise up in the mountains; I want to ensure that my life is well planned and that I overlook nothing that will bless me or my family as we work thorough these wonderful years on earth.

May God bless each of us as we review our lives, our losses, and our opportunities to strengthen and help those around us.

Duane Jacobs, grandfather, father, brother, uncle, cousin, and friend