by Zack Parker
I am thankful for the security I was able to feel as a child. It was this security that allowed me to feel safe when I was outside of my parents’ home and alone. I am thankful for being raised in the country. I am thankful for the trees that I was able to climb and the forests that I was able to explore. I am thankful for my family. I'm thankful for my father, mother, brother, and sister. I am thankful for my extended family. My aunts, uncles, and cousins all played a huge roll in my life and helped to make it what it is. I am truly thankful for them. I'm thankful that I was not raised like an animal. I'm thankful that I was taught the difference between right and wrong and pushed to always do my best. I am grateful that I was always able to come home to a supportive family that I knew loved me no matter what the circumstance. I am thankful that my parents never gave up on me. I am grateful for the molding and shaping effects they had on me and on my personality as I grew. Without them, I would not be who I am today. Without my family, I would not be me.
I am thankful for all of life's circumstances, scenarios, and point of decision that have shaped, molded, and guided me into being the man that I am today. I am thankful for all the things that took place mentally at the microsecond level every day of my life. You know the things that I'm talking about. Those tiny thoughts. Those, perhaps, held back emotional responses, embarrassments, waves of anger, frustrations, anxieties, joys, and countless other little things that take place within our minds that only we are privileged to know about. These are the silent and subtle chips of “the sculptor” that bring out the finer and more detailed contours of our ever-developing personalities. For these, I am thankful. I'm grateful for the hardships in my life. I'm thankful for the victories. I'm thankful for the lessons that I have been able to learn the easy way! I am grateful for lessons that I have had to learn the hard way. Mostly what I'm trying to say is that I'm thankful for my life, my existence up until this day. I am thankful for it all!
Today I'm thankful that my eyes opened, and I could take my first conscious breath of the day. I'm grateful for the warmth of my bed and the struggle that I go through every morning to get out of it. I'm thankful for the soft, warm touch of my wife lying next to me. I am so grateful for my wife! I am extraordinarily grateful for all the people that helped her to grow and become the woman that she is. I am very thankful to have gotten the opportunity to get to know her family. They are truly a good group of people. I used to think I did not need a wife. Now I can’t imagine life without her. I am thankful for changes in opinion! I'm grateful for the health of my physical body that allows me to get out of bed in the first place. I am thankful for hot showers! I'm grateful for indoor plumbing. What a blessing! I am grateful for the water heater. I am so thankful for electricity! I am grateful for dry towels and clean clothes. I'm grateful for the ability to take care of my teeth. Without them, life would be so much harder. I'm thankful for the food that I eat for breakfast and the coffee that I drink. I am grateful for the home that kept me safe last night.
I am thankful for my job. Without it, I would not have access to all the luxuries that I have described. I am thankful for what I learn every day as I work with my patients and deal with my coworkers. I am grateful for my coworkers. I am thankful for the routine that my job has created and the security that it provides. I am thankful that I live in a country with a healthcare system that allows for a job set like mine to even exist. I'm thankful for the vehicle that I have that takes me to my job safely and in a dependable manner. I'm thankful for audiobooks. I usually listen to them on the way to and from work. It's a great way to learn and pass the time. I'm thankful for the phone that allows me to stay in contact with my wife and loved ones during the day. That really is a bright point for me.
I'm especially thankful for my home when I return in the evening. I am thankful for its smell, and the comfort that comes from its familiarity. I am grateful for my couch with its pillows. I am thankful for our cats that usually greet me when I sit down and our dog that waits outside for me to come and say hello. I am thankful for the food that either my wife or I prepare. I am grateful that we have food. I am thankful that we actually know how to prepare food. I am thankful for the access that I have to clean drinking water. Clean water is usually underappreciated. I am grateful for my healthy digestive system. I am thankful for my computer and my ability to type. I am grateful for my friends that I sometimes talk to in the evenings. I am thankful for relaxation. It will not be too much longer now, and once again, I will be thankful for my bed!
The point of this chapter is to point out that there is so much to be thankful for that is very often overlooked or underappreciated. It's sometimes tough to really break things down and see life for the real blessing that it really is, but it never hurts to actually do so. I didn't even get into the countless chemical conversions and electrical synapses that must take place every day just so that my body doesn't die. There are literally millions upon billions every day! So just take a few minutes right now to be thankful. You really have more to be grateful for than you can ever know. The same goes for me. I will never be able to truly grasp just how much of a miracle my one unique life really is. I know it might be tough sometimes because life is hard and people are crazy, but if we don't let those types of things shine the brightest, if we give them less fuel to burn on, then we will be able to feed fuel to other more positive areas in our existence. If we fuel the good and allow it to burn a little brighter, then we will be able to focus more on what truly matters. So, I don't know what your mindset is after reading this chapter, but after writing it, I am truly grateful!
Hello reader!
I would like to encourage you to write down as many of the things that you have to be grateful for as you can possibly think of. Go deep, and break your existence down as I have here. Be thankful for your reality and honestly consider what was required for you to be here in the first place. You are a miracle! Just try to think of what all had to happen throughout time to bring about the wonder that is your life. If you do this, then you will begin to realize just how incredible and fortunate you really are.
Start here:
I am grateful for…
Chapter 9
Health
W hat a subject to try and tackle in a single chapter! So complex! Such a diversity of information! There are entire libraries of information dedicated solely to this one subject, and yet, it continues to grow and evolve as a field. How can I possibly attempt to offer you any inspiration or education in a field which has already been expanded upon to such a degree as the field of health? No other subject, except for perhaps that of God or the meaning of life, can even hold a candle to the amount of time our species has spent in study over. I may be wrong, but I would bet even these two have significantly less brain time than health. We have all this information, and still, we can’t walk into a public place without seeing people with serious health issues. Most of which are entirely preventable. This observation is the motivation behind much of this book and especially this chapter. Like I said though, what could I possibly have to offer? I guess what I hope to offer to you with this chapter is the same thing I have tried to deliver in all the other chapters of this book. I merely wish to provide a change in perspective.
You may have noticed in the opening paragraph that I put a lot of focus on the amount of information we have amassed regarding human health. It truly is staggering. Understandably more than one person could ever hope to cover in a lifetime. It’s even less probable anyone could learn and understand it all. That may sound discouraging, but the focus in this situation is not that we need to understand all the information; instead, the beauty of our age is that we possess this wealth and have full access to it. At our fingertips is the key. We live in a golden age of information where the only thing required of us to find an answer is to simply have a question. No longer do we live in the dark when it comes to the well-being of our physical and mental health. Generation after generation of great thinkers, researchers, and medical pioneers h
ave given us answers to almost all the questions we may have regarding our well-being. We need only seek to find. We need only knock, and the door will be open unto us. The question is, will you seek, will you knock?
Unfortunately, it seems to be hard for most people in the developed world to have the proper type of motivation. A confused kind of mindset seems to rule the land. It seems that so many of us are only motivated by instant gratification or immediate consequence. We act to get what we want, as long as it’s easy, and we respond when things go wrong, as long as it’s easy. It’s not hard to understand why we have billion-dollar fast food and pharmaceutical industries. One offers the rapid cessation to our immediate want, and the other offers the possibility of a quick fix to our consequential health problems. This type of exchange is instant gratification at its finest. It's a shame, because most often when seeking instant gratification, we quickly find undesirable consequences. We all know this, but so many of us live in a world of false hope. We seem to believe that perhaps there will be no consequences for our actions. While at the same time knowing full well the likely outcomes of the very actions we take! The state of our species at this time in its development can easily be described as insanity. If we do not work to change our culture, then the history books will not look upon us fondly. We will be looked back on as the age of willful ignorance. We will be regarded as the people who had more access to information than any other in human history but it will be shown that we actively turned a blind eye to the facts to preserve and allow for our wants to be nourished instead of our needs.
It will also be shown that the titans of industry, in the name of profits, have put value on financial gain over the health of their own species. If you need proof of this then merely research the profit margins of the billion-dollar cattle, poultry, fast food, processed food, alcohol, tobacco, and pharmaceutical industries. Once you have this information, take it and compare it to the rising epidemic levels of failing health that can be found most prevalently within the worlds most developed countries. With this information at our disposal, we have to ask ourselves a question “Why do they continue to thrive?” The answer is simple. They thrive because we allow it. We are the enablers of the very industries that are causing such horrific health issues for ourselves and our children. There is no one else to blame. We all would like to stand back and point the finger of blame at some far off "They," but the truth is that we have slowly but surely sold our health for pennies on the dollar for simple convenience. Even now, as many of you read these words, walls begin to shoot up around the beliefs that you have adopted to account for possible failings in health. These walls shoot up every time we find ourselves faced with a situation where we know what we're about to do is bad for our health. We allow them to block the thoughts that might save us. We move forward with a questionable choice of action all because we want it. Like a child without supervision, we make decisions as if there are no consequences. Unfortunately for us, we are not children. We know the consequences, and we act anyway.
Ask yourself now, how in the world does this make sense? We are sick, and we know it. We know what the causes are, and we do not change. We point the finger of blame while handing over our money with the other hand. We continue to make the wrong choices, and eventually, people cry at our funerals. We cope in times of sickness and death by gravitating towards the belief that everything happens for a reason. Perhaps you should gravitate towards that mindset now. Feel the gentle communication the universe is having with you at this very moment. You’re being exposed to the information here in these pages is no mere coincidence! Take these words that you have read and place them front and center in your mind. Don't allow them to be shuffled to the back with all the other forgotten health-related information you have acquired in your lifetime. Take care of your body and start to live a life you will look back on with pride instead of regret.
Here are just a few tips that will bring about positive changes in your life. Hopefully, if you apply these, you will see enough benefit that it will inspire you to seek out more information. If you can start on this path, then it will empower you to take further control of your health and quality of life.
1. Drink water (almost primarily)
2. Research the functions of the liver. There are over 500! (consider life once enough damage has occurred that it no longer functions properly)
3. If you plan to consume anything, always ask "what effect will this have on my liver or other organs?”. Then find the answer. Be informed!
4. There are 168 hours in a week. Spend at least 3 1/2 hours a week exercising. That's only 30 minutes a day. That’s literally almost nothing. Just do it!
5. Eat what you know you should eat. Don't refuse to eat healthy food because you don't like it! That's what children do. Be an adult. Do what's best for you regardless of whether it’s what you prefer or not. Just do it!
6. Meditate or pray at least a couple hours per week. That's as little 30 minutes every other day or 15 minutes every day. That's nothing. And science shows it helps in all areas of health. Just do it!
(A side note about meditation) This isn't something mystical that only monks with shaved heads and orange gowns can perform. Meditation is the most natural thing you will ever do. Just don't expect for something extraordinary to happen when you sit with your eyes closed. You're going to hear your thoughts, and they are going to go in lots of different directions. That's normal. Don't allow yourself to make the excuse that you're just not good at it. You were not good at anything when you were a child, but with repetition, you have developed many skills. Meditation works the same way! Just trust me on this one. Mental health is a prerequisite for physical health and physical health seriously affects mental health. Strengthen one, to strengthen the other, to strengthen the whole.
7. Stretch. Our bodies were designed for movement. It is entirely understandable that when they stop being able to move as well, we start to have dysfunction and pain. Give your body what it wants and keep it moving. You will be glad you did.
Imagine those tiny increments of time spent stretching, exercising, meditating, or researching how to be a healthier you. Imagine the accumulative effect they will have on your health over the course of the rest of your life. Now imagine if you allow those same small increments in time to be spent watching television, checking your social network, or watching the news and see clearly where your priorities should be. Take control of your health now, and I guarantee you it will never be a decision that you will regret.
I hope I have accomplished my goal of at least giving you something new to think about or perhaps a new way of thinking about something you already knew. It is only through conscious and consistent effort that we create positive change in our lives, and it is only through positive change that we prosper and grow. The choice is yours. Take pride in that one divine freedom we all possess. Take pride in your free will. Realize right now that you are the combined sum of your physical, mental, and spiritual self, and that you are also the custodian of these most vital components. Actively make the choices in the present that you have always wished you had made in the past. Take the necessary steps to improve your health, and I can guarantee you that they will accelerate you on your path to peace.
Chapter 10
Sugar, Salt, Fat
I n the current world we live in, especially if you’re reading this in a more developed nation like the United States, we are constantly surrounded by food! We have an ample supply of every type of food that we could ever want. Every kind you can imagine. From frozen too fresh and highly processed to purely organic, it's there to purchase. For many in the world that may not have such a ready supply of nourishment, this culture may seem somewhat like a paradise. Truth be told, if we were all perfectly balanced and health-conscious individuals, then perhaps it could be. However, it is becoming painfully obvious that not only are we not in paradise, but we are actually in an environment that humankind has never experienced before. We have never been here befor
e, and we are learning that we are utterly unprepared for this new environment of food. In this new environment, the vast majority of us are highly unable to control ourselves. I believe wholeheartedly that most of the problems we have with our current diets can be traced back to wide-scale ignorance regarding the fact that this lack of control comes from base instincts that have been passed down genetically, from our long forgotten ancestors.
Our ancestors lived an entirely different type of life with entirely different types of eating habits. I'm not talking about your grandparents or great-grandparents or even great-great-grandparents and beyond. I'm talking about our ancestors who lived on this planet when there were very few of us, and those few were highly unorganized. Think way, way back! Whether you believe in creation or evolution, this should ring true for you as you read on. I don’t think it will matter if you believe we are as we are because God made us this way from the get-go, or that our most highly developed and established traits have evolved through natural selection over vast amounts of time, this should make sense. Heck, you may even believe that evolution was the process through which God created us. However, regardless of what any of us believe, we have got a lot of food in front of us, all the time!
When I want something to eat all I must do is walk through my kitchen. If there is nothing that suits me out of the many, many options we typically keep around the house, then my biggest dilemma is deciding on what other option I would like to use to obtain something to eat. Something from town perhaps? If this is my decision, then I am only required to take a short drive in my automobile to pick something up and bring it back home. I also have the option to go in somewhere and have my food served to me, pay, and leave. If I wanted, I could just pick up my phone, make a call, and have a smorgasbord of whatever my heart desires delivered directly to my door, hot and ready to eat. It's great! Super convenient. Having such ease of access to the foods we crave will be one of the main defining aspects of our time when looked back on in the history books. For our ancestors, however, things were much, much harder.