Recently I have been the most unwell I have been in my entire life. I have been run down with no energy and this past week my shoulder has had an infection. I have been asking myself what is the cause of this? What is my body trying to tell me? Then I was reminded of the power of my mind in the healing process.
There is a story that I came across:
A little while ago we had a visitor from the great state of Texas, who brought with her the largest assortment of self-prescribed drugs I have ever known one person to possess.
She carried a suitcase filled entirely with tranquilizers, aspirin, sleeping pills, bromides, stomach settlers, and nerve pills which she took at regular periods set by an alarm clock.
She ran out of one of her drugs during the night and I had to get out of bed to go down town and get her a new supply. Here was hypochondria (imaginary ailments) at its worst.
The imagination is a powerful thing. It can make people sick and it can make them well. It has been estimated that 75 per cent of the people who think they are sick have nothing wrong with them that their own minds could not correct.
Drugs, properly prescribed by skilled doctors, can be a blessing. In the field of medical research the dreaded disease of cancer is rapidly being tracked down and eventually may be brought under complete control through drugs.
But imaginary ailments which send people to the pill bottle every time they feel the slightest discomfort is a growing evil in America.
Physical pain is wonderful - wonderful because it is nature's language which every living creature understands and heeds. But the person who cuts the line of communication, when pain is sending out a hurry-up call to the brain for help, thereby affronts the Creator who gave man this very necessary signal system.
The person who needs, or thinks he needs, a "pain killer" also needs something more. He needs to find out what is causing the pain.
I have "pains" at times, but I also have a remedy which does a remarkable job of driving them away. It is a simple remedy. I get busy in my garden until I work up a healthy perspiration, or I whip up the keys of my typewriter so enthusiastically that the "pain" becomes disgusted and goes away.
I also have another remedy which serves as a sort of overall insurance against physical ailments. I keep myself so busy doing the things I like to do that physical ailments cannot get into my consciousness.
You can build up a "sound health consciousness" by a very simple procedure: every night just before going to sleep offer a prayer of gratitude for being blessed with sound health during the day.
When you arise the next morning, express the same sort of prayer for the dynamic energy and fine health you expect to enjoy throughout the day. Do this with enthusiasm and you will be surprised at what a wonderful effect it will have on your physical body as well as your mind.
Then clean out your medicine chest and throw the contents down the drain. Place a neatly printed announcement on the mirror of your medicine chest: "When I need drugs I will have my doctor prescribe them."
There may be times when you will need drugs, but you will display practical wisdom if you don't try to determine for yourself when you need them, or which ones you need. This is the work of doctors.
Of course, you can overdo the "doctor habit" also.
If you will form the habit of thinking of yourself as sound, energetic, and full of the joy of living -- and keep so busy at your work that you feel you can't afford such "luxuries" as physical illness - you will seldom need a doctor.
At birth you came into this world blessed with many miraculous things. One of these was an invisible doctor and a chemist that assimilates your food and diverts it into the health and maintenance needs of your physical body.
You can do your part in helping these servants by keeping your mind free from thoughts of physical pain and ailments.
And when you have a sleepless night, instead of rushing to the sleeping pills, try singing the little song which says, "When you are tired and can't go to sleep, count your blessings instead of sheep."
Whether ailing or not, I know of nothing that will bring peace of mind and sound health more quickly than the habit of counting one's blessings and recognizing them in a prayer of gratitude.
Each night before i retire to bed i give thanks for the day and the things I have learnt and how I have aided others. This is a new day. I am at my peak health.
I look forward to our next meeting.
Fraser
No comments:
Post a Comment