The Laws of Health
In a well-known passage, Professor Huxley once compared life to a game of chess. “Suppose”, he said, “it was perfectly certain that the life and fortune of everyone of us would, one day or other depend upon his winning or losing a game at chess. Don’t you think that we should all consider it to be a primary duty to learn at least the names and the moves of the pieces; to have a notion of a gambit, and a keen eye for giving and getting out of check ? Yet it is a very plain and elementary truth that the life, the fortune, and the happiness of every one of us do depend upon our knowing something of the rules of a game infinitely more difficult and complicated than chess”.
Huxley went on to apply this simile in the broadest sense, explaining that “The chess-board is the World, the pieces are the phenomena of the Universe, and the rules of the game are what we call laws of Nature”; and that “Education is learning the rules of this mighty game”. But we may apply it in a more restricted way to one important part of life, namely our health. Much of our happiness and success in life depends on our health; and the—laws of health are some of the most important rules in the game of life.
What are the laws of health? The most important relate to food, exercise, cleanliness, sleep. As to food, just as a fire will die out if it is not regularly supplied with fuel, so our bodies will waste away without the proper amount, and the proper kind, of food. Too little food means under-nourishment ; and too much food, or food of the wrong kind, means chronic indigestion and all kinds of disorders.
A certain amount of open-air physical exercise is essential to good health. Lack of it will result in flabby muscles, dyspepsia, and general physical debility.
As to bodily cleanliness, no one can keep healthy who is afraid of soap and water; for dirt is the mother of disease. The skin of the whole body must be kept soft and clean by regular bathing.
Lastly, we must get a certain amount of sleep. This is specially necessary for young people, who are still growing. Late hours are bad for them. “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy….”
Good health is one of our most precious possessions. To keep it, we must know and obey the laws of health ; for if we break these laws, we shall certainly lose it. A breach of Nature’s laws will automatically bring Nature’s punishment, sooner or later. “Nature’s discipline is not even a word and a blow, and the blow first ; but the blow without the word. It is left to you to find out why your ears are boxed.”
