Health Center(ed)

Without your health, nothing else matters.

I think about health a lot...of mine and of those I care about. Not to an obsessive point, but I truly believe that I am lucky that no one I know is suffering from anything too serious. Redd Foxx warned, "Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing."

I try to stay aware of basic health information, but as in most things, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. As Mark Twain said, "Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint." So for the most part I leave my health in the hands of the professionals. I have finally found a doctor I trust and respect...maybe even love - in a professional sense, of course! He is practical and encouraging. He's my first D.O. - where have these guys been all my life?! I leave after a checkup feeling cared for and informed...not invaded and patronized.

I can't imagine the strain of living with chronic illness. Fortunately, nothing in particular runs in my family, so at least I have a bit of a genetic advantage perhaps... I've been told I have the immune system of a bulldozer... I very rarely get so much as a cold. That being said, I am at this moment superstitiously knocking the wood of my desk top...! It's probably because my body has had so many years of experience fighting off the multitudes of germs to which I'm exposed via my little daycare friends!

Health is something I try not to take for granted. In the words of Bertrand Russell, "In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted."

I do what I can to maintain this gift that has come to me naturally. I suppose it is the bargain I have made with fate...some misguided notion that if I give thanks for the good health and take care to safeguard it that it won't be taken away from me...

Regardless, I am thankful for good health.

Here is the Chinese symbol for longevity. I wish that for us all, so long as health agrees to come along for the ride.

Well, that's it...I bid a fond farewell to NaBloPoMo...

It's been challenging and fun.

I'm glad I participated.

Click.