Ever Wonder?

Do you ever wonder what the world would be like if people were healthy? Can you picture it in your mind? Just try, for a moment, to envision the people around you as healthy, fulfilled individuals. Its not a very easy thing to imagine I think. Sure maybe we can see one or two, a few of our loved ones smiling, laughing being productive. But what about the entire planet?

Is it possible, do you think, for all people to be healthy? When I say healthy, I do not mean; *shaking a finger* "now eat your veggies!" Although food is a part of it no doubt. As my love likes to say "Ah... food, glorious food!" Now that's a great attitude to have towards the essential elements that make-up our bodies. But health is about so much more then food, or physical activity, or environment; although all of those things are important parts of being healthy.

To be healthy is a state of mind. It is a way of life that influences every choice we make, word we speak or action we perform. If a person was living a healthy life, they would not have to be reminded to eat good food or to treat the homeless person on the sidewalk with respect, or to handle their loved ones, including the earth, gently. If we were all living healthy lives, no one would ever get hit with a stray bullet, or mass weapon, or even a fist, and when we spoke about our feelings it would be with genuine understanding and honesty. It would just be the natural way to behave.

I am a natural counselor, meaning I have been listening to people and helping them with problems for most of my life without any kind of training or degrees on the subject. It is truly amazing how much just listening can help a person. One thing I have found, throughout these experiences is that so many people in our culture (but not ours alone) come from really unhealthy environments. It has always intrigued me, seeing how one person can be totally destroyed by a hurtful event, where someone else can survive it with minimal scaring. I think there is a key here, a tool to uncover and put into practice to help those people who would be otherwise crushed. I guess you could say its my mission in life to discover that tool and figure out how to distribute it to the masses.

I have a dream. Yes I do. I dream of a world where people are healthy, where humanity has made it through this painfully awkward adolescence into an aware maturity. I can see it, if only briefly, but I see a world in which democracy really does work because our leaders belong to our communities; there are no empires, or dictators for if there were such people who aspired to these ends, the group over which they would preside is never large enough to conquer anything but its own failings. It is shown that democracy really can work on smaller scales, this is our answer. Not an easy one is it?

In this world I envision, we learn about learning, about the necessary growth inherent to our existence and so welcome, rather then fear, changes. Each new experience can enhance our overall knowledge and understanding of what this existence is about. To block or deny any of it is to deny certain aspects of the astounding experience, which in turn limits your capacity to better grasp the 'big picture' and function within your life. A wise monk has said "If you lose, don't lose the lesson." There is great power in this, if you truly head the advice. So no matter what happens you will gain something and so never be a victim or powerless.

Healing is a matter of thought as much as any involvement with the body. It has also been shown that the mind, how we think, is directly connected to how we feel physically and vise versa. So in fact we can affect our bodies with our minds. Imagine if people intentionally went about their lives thinking about having healthy bodies, purposefully using their minds to affect their physical health. Do you think that those people would have unhealthy minds with such knowledge and purpose? Some people actually do live their lives that way, but I like to think about it on a mass scale, envisioning whole paradigm shifts. I believe it is possible, and so if I do then there must be others who do too... the interesting thing about a paradigm shift is that it takes a certain "critical mass" to cause the shift, or to maintain it, for that matter. I wonder just how many people need to share an idea before it makes the shift occur...

I think that one of the hardest parts about healing is that the person doing the healing has to first acknowledge that there is a wound at all. This is where most people give up, it seems to big a job or else to admit to the wound would cause such pain that it seems an undesirable thing. The problem is also that many people have spent their lives denying those pains and can't hardly see them for the topical pain they have produced to cover up what's scary underneath. The trick is that if one was to deal with what's underneath, the aches and illnesses, anxiety and fear would fade away. To heal your mind is to heal your body.
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You have just been through a rant in my head... I hope the journey was enjoyable and entertaining if anything. If it was at all painful, please go immediately to your nearest good friend and have a good laugh, cause you probably need it. If you can't find a friend, go rent Bubble Boy, or Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. If you are uptight (why are you still reading this) you might want to rent something else a little more tame like Finding Nemo. Either way... HAVE SOME GOD DAMNED FUN!