Mental Health ● Bryan Kest
For every disease cured a new one takes its place.For every war ending a new one is beginning.For every gadget invented there is an adverse effect.For every technological invention there is more disconnectionFor all the ease there is more stressFor every convenience we are becoming softer, and more dependent.This is life in the dimension of duality.It’s not always easy to see how something that’s made convenient or easy is harming us.After all what can be so harmful about Uber or grub Hub and having some food delivered? Well now that your food isdelivered to you don’t have to walk anywhere, and you don’t have to go outside. You may say I can still walk when I wantand that is true, yet most won’t and even you will walk less. What can be so harmful about cell phones or the internet? It’s not that these things are inherently harmful yet they, like all things, become harmful when used in excess. When a childis overusing or abusing something the responsible parent steps in and stops this behavior. Yet who steps in when it’s theadult overusing or abusing?If the parent doesn’t step in, then the child burns themselves and if the child survives, they now have learned the danger offire. Basically, burn and learn. Yet there is nothing wrong with harnessing and using fire it just needs to be respected andused intelligently. We adults may have learned this from childhood, but did we? In other words, “fire” is a metaphor foreverything! After all, “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” but all play and no work makes Jack a fat boy! We all canstep back and see this. If you look around your home, we might agree that 60%, 70% or maybe even 80% of the stuff wehave is not truly needed, and all the stuff takes coal and oil to produce. This and many other unnecessary things are what’screating global warming.How can even exercise be good for us if the universal law says, “the harder you are on anything the faster you destroy it”? Inthis case it is only good when used intelligently which means moderately which is probably why walking is commonlyreferred to as the healthiest exercise. It is gentle or moderate. This is the same for everything, EVERYTHING! This brings usto the concept of gentleness or balance which are interchangeable here with moderation “the master key”! In this age ofglobal warming, planetary toxicity, nuclear armament, obesity, alcoholism, deforestation and even information overload etc…There is no moderation!Finally, going back to exercise the healthiest one is the ones that are moderate, not too intense, or extreme. If you just takea walk or go for a bike ride or swim you are not going to get yourself into that Lululemon outfit two sizes too small and youwon’t be able to grow your bicep bigger than your head so you can crush people with your bare hands! In other words, formoderation, you would need to be more dominated by your intelligence than your desires. Our society not only doesn’tsupport this it encourages the opposite, as there is very little money to be made or machismo and vanity to be appeased inmoderation. We laud excess in everything and it’s poisoning us!Moderation truly is love in action! It says I CARE. Just as the responsible parent takes the matches or sugar away from thechild because they care.