I suspect that the greatest reason for our health-related troubles is of our hectic lifestyle, the so-called rat race that causes stress daily and depreciates our true value. We live in tight spaces inside cement jungles called cities, and (surprisingly) we are proud of it. We have no time to spend with the members of our tribe or family. We are barely taught the most important thing—to give and receive love. For some, their compassion is limited to their pets at home and or their excitement from observing some pet or baby picture on internet. We randomly experience being compassionate, and we are very embarrassed when others are compassionate to us. The learning of life’s lessons only occurs through videos and the internet, many of life’s richness of personnel events are now merely observed—we don’t experience them ourselves.

When can we find the time for those brilliant experiences? We are alone in the car in the morning, behind the desk all day, back in the car in the evening, then alone in front of the television, or having supper while tired and surrounded by overly excited children at night. Then we finish the day off by getting ready for the next day before climbing to in bed totally exhausted thinking of tomorrow’s day back in the rat race. Our precious time runs so fast that we have no time to assimilate a lot of what is happening around us (or even to us). We don’t seem to be managing to mentally experience or feel what is happening around us. Our value systems are rarely, if ever, re-evaluated or even considered. We often jump on other people’s magic carpet and get, only seemingly, a free ride that often turns to be a ride you could have well done without for various ruinous reasons. Life, at some point, teaches us that this is not a good practice. Very rarely does anything truly come for free, that includes rides.

We are processed, pre-packaged, and pre-conditioned like a lot of our food. We experience joy† mostly by rote or command during certain times, maybe on weekends or on particularly suggested occasions. We get stagnant in our bodies and, in some cases, our minds as well—all for the simple reason that we sit for the longest time without an active break. We are trapped on our comfortable chairs, and for those who are not mentally challenged, all of their creativity languishes.

We die a bit every hour because of dehydration. We eat food without comprehending its influence on our body and thoughts. How many people realize that food is information to the body? That food communicates to our bodies how we feel. That food manifests, through our bodily changes, what our intentions are in terms of health. It is often said that food is your body’s best medicine—I could not agree more. We are surrounded by plastic within our homes and office, actively surrounding ourselves with plastic purchases as demanded by consumer culture. We are consuming hydrogenated oils. We treat ourselves as slaves and others as our proprietors.

Hospitals are getting bigger and yet are still insufficient. The future of human health is not as bright as we wish to be. The rest you can read just anywhere. In a memorable scene from the Aaron Sorkin series The Newsroom, Jeff Daniels’ character says, “The first step for solving any problem is to recognise that there is one.”

Yes, we do have a problem. Of course, we must stay positive and optimistic. Let’s shout hooray for those who truly change themselves and take the initiative to lead us to a better existence.

Mariya