Stay healthy!

Recently, I had some conversations with my friends. Those conversations were interesting and inspiring, through which we exchanged the thought and opinions regarding some topics. We talked about health. A friend of mine who is having obesity is having a high blood pressure problem. This problem troubled him for a long while and he doesn’t seem to do something to better that. I briefly shared with them about the significance of having a healthy body and the importance to have a healthy life style.

In the past, it is very common for a person to travel by feet for about a very long distance, because they did not have any automobiles for transportation purpose. Some just have chariots or horses to make them easy to travel. But most of the time, they have to walk. Besides that, most of them used to work by their strength and stamina. They sow the seeds and reap the farm crop; they go out to the sea to fish. All these demand a good physical capability to ensure the high efficiency of work. There are chances for them to get injured during their work. That is also very common for them to sweat when they are working. That’s why they call their income as “the money of blood and sweat”血汗钱.

Last time I went to visit my grandparents at Rawang. Every time I look at my grandpa, I am so amazed by his physical condition. You can see the shape of the muscle so obvious though the skins are no longer firm. I never failed to admire this old man while I was reminded that he is still working!! He works as a shed builder. This work requires a lot of effort and strength and the working environment is usually tough. When we met, he often boasted with me about how heavy the thing he used to carry during his working time. It can tell that he found pleasure to share with me how strong he is while everyone is trying to convince him to retire. In my personal opinion, I would encourage him to continue working, because that maintains his body in a flexible and good condition. Besides that, if he doesn’t work, his life would seem to be very long and boring to him. I choose to listen to his sharing, though his pronunciation during speaking was not always clear enough due to his incomplete teeth. I always enjoy listening to his sharing because he was trying to gain respect when he knows that he is getting older. He deserves that, because he deserves that!

Many people nowadays would only like to work in comfortable office rooms with desirably cold air condition. They devalue the jobs which require physical effort. For this reason, that kind of works turns to have no status as majority fail to appreciate and pay respect to them sufficiently. Because of this phenomenon, the majority of Malaysia construction workers are not local residents. If this happens that the country keeps the foreign workers from coming in, the majority of the construction work would be definitely paralysed. However, it seems like I have been driven away from the topic I concern. Let me get it back to my point.

What I am trying to say is that the people in the past used to be given chances to exercise during their works. However, things changed, the situation doesn’t encourage the people to exercise right now. Foods are available all the places, you don’t have to travel far to satisfy your appetite. However, you don’t have to walk for a longer distance, because transportation makes things a lot easier. Conclusion, the enjoyment of doing exercise is being deprived. Exercising somehow becomes a torturing activity. People have a wrong mind-set of thinking that only patients are required to exercise more to better the health. Those people exercise mainly to keep fit and a good shape of body. But a good body shape is not necessarily a healthy body. Health should be a main focus for doing exercise.

The worse thing is that they fail to realize that having the ability to exercise is a great blessing from God! Some people wanted to run on a field, but they can only sit on the cold wheelchair and watch the people running around and having fun among themselves. Some people wanted to play ball, but due to their poor inborn health condition (asthma), exercising can kill them if they are not careful enough. In my opinion, those who are able to exercise but fail to enjoy exercising are very pathetic. Why? Because they don’t search for the best enjoyment that they actually deserve, they think that food is the best enjoyment. I tell you what. Food alone is not the best enjoyment. Having the ability to eat your favourite foods is the best precious gift of all! Some may afford to buy all their favourite foods, but if they don’t take care of their health probably, they definitely don’t afford to take the foods into their mouths, as the extra undesired nutrition would probably break them down!

You might say to me:” Hey, do you know how suffering it is to exercise? We got very tired and unhappy at the end of the days. So just let us be what we are as long as we are happy!” I would like to ask you:” Is happiness the main priority in your consideration when you make decisions in your life?” If yes, then why are you studying? Because most of us are studying instead of learning. Learning is enjoyable but somehow studying seems to be very dull. If it is so, then you should pack your bag and go home right now, because it is not happy to study. But why are you here? Isn’t it because you want to have a better life with a better job that provides you a better income, then you would like to study in order to get a certificate for your better life. You endure for the best of your future; you don’t give up right now because you believe great things will come in the future.

Brothers and sister, please do not be totally content with your current situation, you deserve better than what you have right now. Please invest your time on the things that are significant to you, don’t only invest your time on urgent matters. Take your time to ponder about the future that you would love to have and see if the things you are doing right now can bring you there. If it is negative, then please identify your problems and come out some practical solutions to better your life and future. 

Of course, I am not criticizing anyone for being unhealthy, it is all up to you guys to choose your own way of living. But as a friend, I have to say something that you need to know though you might not want to listen. What are the points of saying something you like? It is not my duty to please you, but to help you. Perhaps I would be the only one who holds this so-called healthy principle all by myself, but what is the point if I couldn't even help my friends on all these. I don't think I would consider myself as a good friend of you. However, if you find yourself offended by what I have said, I would like to apologize, because that's not my intention to offend you but to encourage. Even though I might be disliked by many people in the end, but at least I know I have done my part, perhaps the approaches do need some improvement. Be aware that you can never change your past, but you can leave it a good history for your “tomorrow” by having a free-of-regret “today”, as today would be the history for tomorrow.