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Treat Yourself Right

Treat Yourself Right

I know of a Brother that had several heart attacks and various complications and I found him to be always sick. I often wonder about those kind of people and how they could be so unlucky, but then when I started reading books like, 'Back to Eden' by Jethro Kloss (a non-LDS book written about the natural way of eatting) I relaized how sick we make ourselves. This same Brother always is anxious for activities related to food and eats a 'healthy' portion. It is obvious that this part of the Word of Wisdom is not being followed and thus the person becomes sick as they poison themselves with food.

This thread is not so much about the Word of Wisdom or eatting right since we have some threads about that, this thread is about treating yourself right as God intended. Too often you can look in a typical Ward and Branch and see many sick members. You can surely trace their complications (at least in most cases) back to a pattern of life that is not healthy. I have visited the Seven Days Adventist Church quite a few times while doing projects (business related) and was amazed at how the majority were sports enthused and slender, both old and young. They have what it seems to be a more rigid following for the Word of Wisdom (yes, they abstain from all the things we also say is bad, but include meat as one of them too, but not all follow that rigidly).

When we take more time for ourselves, learn to eat right, get proper rest, meditate, and exercise then we really can manifest a 'look' and have a 'feeling' that causes us to be 'bubbly' about doing the things of the Lord. What are your thoughts?

Right Treat

This is interesting. I think there is much more to it than the Word of Wisdom too. Some people are so negative in thought as well. I think if we expect the worse, for some reason we get it. Have you ever noticed how some people always seem to have bad luck? I think there is something about our state of mind that affects our health and physical well being.

I think some of this is really a lack of faith. If we really have faith, we should not be expecting the worse in all situations. We should live more positively. Think positively. Expect good things. I think this is part of taking care of ourselves.

Yes, it is also important to eat properly. Another very important thing to do that many members (and non-members as well) just don't take time to do, is exercise. We have been given these bodies and have a responsibility to take care of them. Yet, we don't. If it weren't important that we take care of our physical bodies, we wouldn't need a dietary law at all. We could eat and drink whatever we wanted and not worry about it. With the possible exception being alcohol and drugs because of the behaviour issues created by over use of these.

It is a bit funny that we will avoid coffee, tea, alcohol and tobacco, but allow ourselves to be 50 to 100 pounds over weight and not see that as a violation of the Word of Wisdom or even just see it as not taking care of the body we have been given.

I am not saying we all need to be thin. Many people struggle with their weight and there are now scientific studies that show a good deal of this is genetic. However, we can all exercise. There are women at my health club that do water aerobics or swim and they are 50 or more pounds over weight. Yet, at least they are exercising which helps them stay healthy even with the extra weight.

So, to me, part of taking care of ourselves is scripture study and prayer to help us develop strong testimonies. This should help us to maintain a positive attitude which is essential to good health. From there, we should be sure to get some kind of exercise. The key being to make it something we enjoy so we will really do it. Finally, eat in moderation. This last one is a real challenge for me, but one I am actively working on improving. I have had some success.

Treat Yourself Right Studies Doctrine Mormon

Excelent point Tena. Last sunday one of the councilman gave a great talk about the word of wisdom, I really enjoyed it. I wish our members could take more seriously the fact that if we do not treat ourselves in the right way it is like an insult to Heavenly Father since to be able to enjoy a 'body' of flesh and bones it is a privilege that it was granted because of our choices to follow Jesus Christ. So to turn away from it and allow ourselves to become like the 'natural man' who is enemy of God, it is a serious thing. In order to earn respect from others and be happy, we need to treat ourselves in the right way.

I have never met somebody who told me that he/she was happy and they were 50 or 60 pounds overweight. Also, I notice the same people do not want to hear anything about the Word of Wisdom and it reminds me of what I read in the new manual of the Church (Pres. Grant's book) where he says that those who say that they're 'tired' of hearing about the Word of Wisdom its because they have things they need to give up and they do not want to. I think as members of the Church we should be extra careful in the way we use our bodies and treat it.

Edited: LDS_forever on 21st Feb, 2004 - 5:17pm