Helping the World thru Health

Why Health Matters

Who are the people that are most able to help the world?

What characterizes them and how they go about living their lives?

We all know people who are significantly unhealthy. Do any people in particular come to mind? Any that are mentally, emotionally, psychologically or physically unhealthy? Several come to mind for me, in both my local context and at a political or celebrity level.

Not to say that such people can’t get anything done, but they often are mostly unable to do very much more than advance their own interests. Whether that be a simple function of the quantity of effort it takes them to overcome something physical or the narcissism that impedes their capacity to imagine the needs of anything or anyone else around them; they are often incapable of doing much to actually help the greater world.

Unhealthy people don’t (can’t?) really help people (especially those who need help) very much.

And, so, each of us needs to learn about the kinds of things that enable us to be in a healthy state (of mind, body, and spirit). And, we each need to learn about the kinds of things that prevent us from being so.

There are some clear patterns for people in general that enable health of all kinds. And, then, there is a version of those patterns that is unique to each one of us. It is important to recognize, know, and understand how these particular versions work for each one of us — because it’s pretty obvious when a lack of this understanding individually impacts our collective understanding.

We are influenced by what is around us, and much of the time what is around us is really a choice about where we put ourselves. That choice can be subconscious, as well as conscious. Either way, we can choose (or make choices about) where we’re putting ourselves and what we are surrounding ourselves with — things that help and nurture us or things that harm and tear us down.

If you are preoccupied with your own existence, you generally end up in an unhealthy condition.  Why is that?

Because, in general, my health is connected to health around me — my environment, the conditions I live in, the people that interact with me. When my focus no longer recognizes that, and becomes self-preoccupied, I lose awareness that my condition is impacted by what is around me, not to mention that what is around me is impacted by me. I no longer see the symbiotic nature of things — their impact on me, my impact on them.

We do not exist in isolation from anything. And, if we end up thinking we do, we end up with a disposition that is unhealthy (both for me and my surroundings). In this state of being, we tend to consume what is around us, rather than work with it, cooperate with it, give to it. We take things. We use things (including people). We have no vision beyond our own self-interest. We only see things from the perspective of how they benefit us.

This lack of health in a very tangible way sickens us, because it sickens what is around us. And, what is around us is where we live, what we breath, what we give and take...for the benefit of others, and therefore myself.

Being sick requires care — self-care and care from others. A healthy environment enables me to return to health when I am sick. A sickening environment does not. I contribute to that environment. I am involved in the health of what is around me.

There are exceptions, of course, to every generalization. Certainly there are people who, out of the poverty of their lack of health, have a great sensitivity and compassion for those who suffer likewise. And, in that way, they surely can help the world.

Those that can help foster health are, generally, those that have benefitted at one point or another from healthy contexts. Those who are healthy can help those who are not. Those who see this dynamic and respect it, by living accordingly, are the ones who truly can perpetuate healthy environments…who can actually help the world.

My health matters because it contributes to the health of others. And, the health of others contributes to my health.

And, in this way, I can truly help the world.