Some of you reading this may enjoy your best years of health. Others may struggle with a difficult diagnosis. Still others may feel trapped in the cycle of bad habits. Regardless of where you are, one of the key points related to health is life at every moment to the fullest. The main thing is that we take the moment before us and live at that moment with hope. Sometimes our best intentions to plan for the future for our health can deprive us of the happiness of our health TODAY. As a health care provider, I wanted to remind all of us of some key concepts from the science of health that I learned about child care more than once:
Stop and evaluate every breath, regardless of your future goals.
Trust others more freely. Allow yourself to be filled with hope, hugging a child, like faith in LOVE AND LIFE.
Do not worry about tomorrow. Plan the health of tomorrow, but appreciate what you have now.
Children are notorious for delaying the moment, no matter what lies ahead. They are notorious for trusting implicitly. That is why there are so many illustrations of hugging a child like faith. The evidence is clear that the strength at the moment comes from the mental agility and attentiveness of the present. Trust and hope at the moment are important to health. Recall that today's reminders are inspired by a young boy Pirah, whom I took care of in the Amazon jungle in Brazil:
I was assigned to work with a public health group that screened for malaria in rural areas in northwestern Brazil. One of our tasks was to check malaria and look at the cases that we found. I expected to treat bedridden patients with high fever, exhausted from all the energy. Instead, I found that there were many children who played football in the fields, while testing had a positive effect on malaria! In an attempt to understand each case, I called Joao's boy at the clinic. His blood malaria level was high, but not his energy or zeal for life. He was about 7 years old, and his fragility was hidden behind his intense energy. I told my mother that he had malaria, and that he would need to take medicine for treatment within a few days. When we checked his temperature, his heat came as a surprise to me. He was so energetic and seemed to be confronted with such a difficult disease without care in the world! I even remember how he begged his mother to allow him to finish the game of football before he began his treatment with malaria! He lived instantly, and it was obvious that he was used to appreciating every possible life, supporting him, without malaria or without him.
I hope that Joao’s story reminds you that you value health today when you HOPE for your health goals. I learned from patients in all aspects of life that this is where HOPE begins. From the cradle to the grave, we can appreciate every breath that we were given with children's faith for each moment!
