Barking Space

A Unified Wellness Theory

The human body is a complicated thing. Complicated things are very interesting, especially when you consider trying to figure out how they work.

Anything with such complexity is a paradox.

It is something that has the capacity to work exceedingly well.

It also has the capacity to have many things wrong with it.

This is one topic that occasionally surfaces in my mind due to the fact that I know I have the ability to worry myself into a state of sickness.

Today is just my attempt to put some of these thoughts somewhere more permament than my brain.

Sickness

Given how much crap we put into our bodies, it is no small wonder that we get sick fairly frequently as a species.

These toxins leave us open for assault from all manner of germs and such.

I had a conversation with a wise man recently.

He told me that people are in the hospital for three reasons (I’m paraphrasing)…

1. They have something in their body (viral, bacterial, etc)
2. They have something on their body (wound, lesion, etc)
3. They have something in their mind

The first two groups of people need no explanation. Something external has created a problem for them on or in their bodies. The argument here: most people in the hospital are part of the third group. These people, in essence, give themselves disease.

Now, I’m not necessarily as heavy-handed in the way that I think about sick people. However, there is a lesson here. I’ll take you along my line of thinking.

Disease

Certainly reality dictates that everything will fail from time to time. If you think about the fact that we are made up of millions and millions of tiny organisms, and each of those organisms are composed of a large number of atoms, you can’t help but wonder how many screw-ups there are. Think about it. Cells divide all the time. Once in a while there has to be a mistake. Usually these are caught by the body, but once in while, they are not.

Welcome to disease.

So, wouldn’t it stand to reason that mistakes might happen more often if we make them happen more often?

Our thought process is governed by chemical reactions. Ironically, our thought processes can result in other chemical reactions. By thinking we can affect our body.

So the third category of people listed previously are those who don’t aid their body in the task of getting rid of the disease they have. They actually end up aiding the disease.

Happiness is a State of Mind

Will being happy and cheerful all the time make you invulnerable?

Probably not.

There is a good chance that grinning like an idiot in the path of an oncoming train will permanently change your smile.

At the same time, frowning and fretting will probably not give you a higher chance of getting struck by lightning. Unless, of course, you mope around in a field with no cover during a thunderstorm.

I would say, though, that maintaining a positive state of mind will aid your body in it’s quest to work as close to perfectly as possible.

Thinking positive thoughts probably creates a chemical reaction that affects the environment of your body positively, allowing your natural defenses to work unhindered.

Conversely, negativity probably hinders your body from healing itself.

When someone tells another that it’s all in their head (especially for psychological disorders), it can be quite a downer to the victim. ; They interpret it as something that they could just switch off if they wanted to. ; Perhaps they can’t just switch it off, but they can contribute to their well-being by thinking about getting better.

Drugs

There are a lot of people who are opposed to taking medication because they feel that it is not natural and that the body can heal itself.

While there are probably a rare few on Earth who can regenerate their entire bodies after being dipped in a vat of hot acid, the rest of us have to make do with what little healing talent we have.

Drugs (natural and synthetic) are designed to help our body deal with what is wrong.

By reaching a positive state of mind, you’ll probably catalyze the effect of the treatment and get better a lot sooner.

The Bottom Line

As a complex machine, we have an obligation to do a little bit of maintenance every once in a while. We need to take care of ourselves and be more positive people.

This would take the sting out of most of what ails us, I believe.

Apologies if this sounds like a bit of a ramble. Just trying to jot down some thoughts…

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