The Secret to Health

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.” (Buddha)

The Secret to health?……hmmmmm……What is health?  Am I healthy if I am free from disease?  Am I healthy if I am have a normal BMI (Body Mass Index)?  Am I healthy if I am thin? Am I healthy if I do not have any mental disorders? Does it have only to do with our mental and physical well-being?

The English word “health” comes from the Old English word hale, meaning “wholeness, being whole, sound or well,”. Hale comes from the Proto-Indo-European root kailo, meaning “whole, uninjured, of good omen”. Kailo comes from the Proto-Germanic root khalbas, meaning “something divided”.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” This definition was established in 1948 and has not been amended since.

At first glance this definition seems adequate and most people will put health into two categories, mental and physical health.  Physical health being anything that relates to our physical being and mental health refers to people’s cognitive and emotional well-being.

What if there is more to health than the conventional meaning we have given it?  What if there are other factors that contribute to our well-being as humans?  What if the old dogma of what health is, is wrong and has lead us down a path toward the healthcare crisis we have today?

Listen to Dr. Michel Accad as he takes a new approach to health.  He sees health as “rooted in the view that human beings are persons acting purposely, persons who select means to achieve chosen ends,” therefore, “health, then, may be defined as the state that is present when a person’s physical and mental conditions allow the pursuit of his or her chosen ends.  Disease, then, is the absence of health [1].”

http://tomwoods.com/podcast/ep-651-austrian-school-physician-on-whats-wrong-with-health-care/

Sources:

  1. http://alertandoriented.com/from-reacting-machine-to-acting-person-part-2/#more-5247

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