THE CONDITION of physical well-being, freedom from any corporal sickness, the feeling of bodily wellness – this is health in simple terms, in its common understanding.
Health is soundness of biological features and consequent wholeness of physical functions.
Health is the premise of personally initiative, functionality, and consequent productivity. Thus it is that “health is wealth.” So it is that sickness is a liability, a burden, a debit – an impediment, a stumbling block, an obstruction.
To be healthy and to stay health is wherefore not simply a right but also a duty as enjoined by nature and reason. Saying it more plainly, the quest for and tenure of health is an ethical obligation.
In a way, the said substance and import of health bring to fore the significance and implications of the so-called “Sin Tax” specifically imposed on cigarettes and alcoholic drinks. These are not only unneeded items but also unhealthy – “sinful” – articles.
Let it be well noted though that all the above observations are but about physical health. This is not only a complementary accompaniment of life but also a valuable factor of living.
Truth to say however, the integral reality of health rests on a tripod. Bodily or biological health is good – but enough it is not.
Physiological health would be difficult to appreciate if there is mental illness and/or spiritual malady. In other words, for a man to be really healthy, he should be sound in body, in mind, and in spirit.
Mental soundness means psychological integrity, i.e., freedom from emotional impairment, active and reactive drawback or personality disorder. It is common knowledge that there are more than one cause for this pitiful mental condition – such as by blood affiliation, on account of a dysfunctional background or empirical trauma.
It is wherefore a given that when someone is afflicted by a mental disorder, the same is not the cause thereof. He is no altogether personally culpable for such a personal malady.
Spiritual soundness is more basic than what religion a man embraces, what church he belongs to, what creed he embraces. It is first and foremost an ethical rectitude based on sound reason that makes a distinction between good or bad, right or wrong, righteous or vicious.
When what is to be done or to be avoided is premised on but personal gain and convenience, political interests and considerations, then there is a spiritual errancy.
Again: Would that a man be not only physically but also mentally and spiritually healthy. Otherwise, not only his individual self but also those who count on him would be all losers.
And this is anything but a promising reality for everybody concerned – especially the unhealthy himself./PN
