One Urgent Thing That Cannot Be Shunned In Life Is HEALTH

Today in the morning I read a shlok in Sanskrit about health which says

व्यायामात् लभते स्वास्थ्यं दीर्घायुष्यं बलं सुखं।

आरोग्यं परमं भाग्यं स्वास्थ्यं सर्वार्थसाधनम्॥

This means – Exercise results in good health, long life, strength, and happiness. Good health is the greatest blessing. Health is a means of everything.

This reminded me of an incident that happened with one of my friend.

The Story

It was such a beautiful winter morning for everyone in the house.

But not for Smita as the clock was showing 7 am already and as she had just an hour to complete the whole morning regime starting from making breakfast, giving a shower to kids, cleaning the house, dropping them to school, completing her work assignments and much more.

Her body suddenly thwarted when she tried pushing herself up to get going for the day. In no time, she could make out something is not normal. It has been six months since she has already been avoiding the persistent pain in all her joints until it became unbearable.

As soon as her husband heard her screaming in pain, he quickly drove her to the hospital.

She was in ICU for almost three hours with mixed feelings of agony and guilt, seeing her kids waiting outside with half-opened sleepy eyes without having their morning milk and breakfast.

Tears started rolling from her eyes, seeing them in such a condition. 

No doubt, it became one of the worst days of life for her as she narrated the incident.

The doctor strictly advised her six months of complete bed rest and almost nil movement allowed due to the severe stage of medical condition Osteoarthritis. 

Yes, that was the first time she realized how important it was to take care of her body first and implement the advice of prioritizing her health given by doctors and family.

She felt broken, both mentally and physically that day.

The same way we all keep flowing with life as it comes to us and blindly accepts whatever happens to us. 

If this is how life goes on, then why do we care for our loved ones when we can’t be of any use to them when everything is pre-defined, and nothing is in our hands.

Somehow in that direction and impractical approach towards life, we forget the importance of the base on which it runs and takes it for granted.

It is the mindset for most Moms that we do things for our self only when it becomes a need of an hour.

Smita’s questions that I kept thinking and had no prominent answers to it.

I had a feeling of guilt and regret both as most of us fall in the same category.

Below are the queries she asked, which shook me as a women.

• What if I won’t be able to take care of my kids now as they need me for almost everything?
• What if I won’t be ready with my work assignments pending for so long and lose my job?
• What if I never get back to my regular healthy life after this treatment?
• If I now could never manage to make plans for outings with my family and friends?
• What if I won’t be able to do things at home to assist my husband, who hardly gets time after his office hours?
• What if I could not enjoy my life the way I planned it?
• Do I lack self-love and care?

My Introspection

Situations like these depict us about how less it takes to care for ourselves before anything else. 

But, we fail and ignore to do even that few basic things.

We can have many choices and get assistance with all other things in this life, but it is only good health and self-care that has no substitute ever.

Chasing all materialistic dreams madly without understanding the basic rule of life is like a vicious cycle of setbacks and short-lived achievements.

We humans often tend to forget this most important aspect of our life. We women dream of being successful, happy, and complete in every sense of the word.

But, we neglect the foundation on which all this stands, which is our mental and physical health.

We need to prioritize to take care of the health of our body and mind both. As those who want to help others first need to help themselves, else the outcomes become contrary to what we strived to achieve for all through our lives.

Smita and her story is just an example of a woman of this modern world who dream very high and want to stand out, but she has kept her self love as the last option.

Do you think she did justice to her life?