BY REV FR GERALD NWAFOR
I want to share with the reading public what I got from a week of conference and study. I do not plan to bug you with routines and expectations. Perhaps one thing may be of great significance to you and you can learn from it. I paid almost 2 million to attend this conference, so I valued it. I did not agree with everything they said, but some statements were very true that I cannot keep to myself alone.
The facilitator said that the fastest way to recover from fatigue is sleep, not any medication. I also remember that a teacher in natural medicine said that there are 4S we need to keep healthy. The 4S are also free of charge: they are SLEEP, SMILE, SOCIALIZING, and SUNSHINE. The natural teacher requested that you practice the 4S daily to keep your body and soul in a healthy condition. So, when the teacher in this wellness program mentioned sleeping, I picked it up. We need at least 6 to 8 hours of sleep daily. Sleep repairs the brain, refreshes the skin, oxygenates the blood, and renews the mind and soul (spirit). People neglect sleep to their own peril. Sleep is the most common medicine for health, but many people do not realize how detrimental it is to the whole system until the damage is done. Lack of sleep is the fastest road to stroke, cancer, liver, and kidney failures. If you do not sleep, the major organs of the body will keep working. The brain will keep thinking and going into overdrive, while the stress will go to the liver and kidneys. If the body requests sleep from you, do not deprive it because induced sleep does not work like natural sleep. If you drink alcohol to sleep, the body shuts down falsely, and the brain is processing what is going on since it is not normal. Do not drink hard liquor to sleep, as it damages the liver, the kidneys, and the brain.
Always drink good herbal teas, a lot of water, and juice prepared by you from organic fruits. Reduce the intake of soda, mineral-bottled drinks, beer, and all kinds of alcohol. Do not drink too much caffeine. The above-mentioned drinks interfere with your sleep pattern. Prioritize your sleep in everything you are doing; the only reason why the wild animals survive so long without a medical doctor is that they take their time to sleep. The wild cat family sleeps between 15 and 20 hours daily. You will be surprised that the lion in all his power and vigor sleeps 20 hours daily to refresh and renew his strength.
Sleep is important, as is what we eat. Whatever we put inside our bodies increases or decreases our health. So next time, when you arrive at a restaurant or a burial ceremony, be careful what you order. I do not want to say wedding ceremony or birthday ceremony since we do not need to cry on the day of a wedding or birthday.
When you finish the first bottle of beer, I do not think that the second bottle is necessary. You can also request a bottle of water instead of an extra bottle of beer. You do not need to have four plates of pepper soup; one plate is enough. We all know that the pepper soup was well made, but remember that our people pointed out early that “Too much of everything is bad.” Gluttony is even a sin in Christian theology, so why sinning because of food? I remember when we went to the “Isi-ewu joint,” and I would finish the whole goat head alone and transport it with some bottles of beer. The amount of potassium in that isi-ewu was not healthy, the quantity of meat I consumed was not reasonable, and the number of bottles of beer I took was not necessary. It was a bad combination of substances and an overdose of food nutrients. I do not want to call it poison, but that was what it is, literally. Be very careful what you put inside your body. I agree with three square meals, but moderate the quantity that goes in at a meal. Do not skip breakfast and overeat lunch, do not skip lunch and indulge in excess dinner. Better a simple breakfast, normal lunch, and simple dinner before 7 PM. Do not lie down immediately when you finish eating. Do not jump into vigorous activity immediately after eating. Sit a while at the table after your meal for ten mins or more, then walk around for ten minutes or more. Then go to work, or sleep, or whatever the next activity is. The quantity and quality of food you put inside your body count a lot.
Finally, from childhood, we were told that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Jack may be a dull boy, but today, Jack will not only be a dull boy but also a sick boy. If you have kids, do not stop them from playing soccer with other kids because you do not want them to associate with some kids in the neighborhood. In some cases, parents need to register their kids for some extracurricular activities. Lack of exercise can lead to a weak heart and poor development of some limbs. Allow the kids to use their strength when they are young because at some age they can no longer join in. Some sicknesses would be taken care of through exercise. If you walk 20 minutes daily, you will reduce the risk of high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity. So, in that busy schedule, find time to walk around, take stairs in the airport, avoid the elevator, stand while waiting for someone briefly, and if you are scared of injury, find a non-contact game like tennis. You can condition yourself to walk 10 mins in the morning and 10 mins in the evening. At 50 years, you do not need strenuous exercise; a simple walk will do the magic. Pilates and yoga are very good for senior citizens, too. It will help them build muscles and brain memory. If you go to the hospital, the doctors want to see the monitor not reading on a straight line; they want to see activity going on, which means the heart is functioning. The same way your body wants to see some activity going on every day. Many things in our body die from lack of use. If you do not walk for thirty days, you will be surprised what will happen to your leg the first day you put it down (lethargy). So I request that you take good care of your body so you can take good care of others.
