I personally didn't know anyone who was ill or that had died, but the obituaries all too often contained the names of people in their fourth decade of life who had succumbed to disease or injury. Suddenly, things like hardening of the arteries, chest pain, and obstructed lungs loomed on MY horizon; it was no longer the ubiquitous "they" who experienced these difficulties. Up until forty, I had felt oblivious to the effects of my bad habits: sedentary lifestyle, cigarette smoking, diet full of animal fat and sugar. At forty, it was as if someone had struck my brain with a sledgehammer--if I didn't change my lifestyle soon, I was going to have to pay the piper.
I am ashamed to admit to being overwhelmed with gloom and doom when I initially woke up to the fact that I was, after all, mortal. The first year or two after forty were spent in inaction, just shaking my head from time to time over the unfairness of life in general and feeling helpless to change what would be my destiny. As if on cue, my body began to show me just how things were going to be if I didn't start to take some responsibility for my health, and quickly!
That wake-up call was just what I needed. I had taken my physical and mental health for granted up until that fortieth birthday. Like a child who never has to earn anything, but has everything handed to him, I had not appreciated what was given me.
Understand that I am not some svelte swami at this point in time, but I am a little wiser about my health. I am more knowledgeable, more appreciative, more in awe about the workings of the human body and mind. I am conscious of the effects of the things I do and the stuff I eat, and aware that the way I think and feel influences my health.
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