Health

I talk about mental health a lot. I was watching CNN and someone said something I found really interesting.  I had not considered it before, but I think it is true.
She said just as we all have physical health, we all have mental health.  And just was we are careful that we try to keep our bodies from getting physically sick, it is important we keep our mental state from getting sick too.
The old saying is out of sight out of mind.  In this day and age there seems to be a real emphasis on the body.  Magazine covers of people are air brushed to ensure the person covered has “the look.”  Young people have it drummed into them through the media that they need to look acceptable (using what is acceptable at the time).  The cosmetics industry thrives on dressing up the body.  Pharmacies insist unless a certain product is used, I am vulnerable.
Only now after lifetimes of neglect is mental health coming to the fore.  Mental health problems thrive on neglect.  Mankind was so busy pursuing bodily beauty that mental health was neglected until it was an inconvenience that could no longer be ignored.
While a crime will always be a crime and deserving of punishment, many of them seem to be people crying out to be heard.  I will never justify some actions, but I will never not seek a reason.  To me, something cannot be fixed without finding the reason for it.  We have spent so much time extolling the virtues of the beautiful people and filling our magazines with them, that many that had problems to start with, could not get a word in edge ways.
I really love that people come in all shapes and sizes.  Seeing those who are magazine like is the exception rather than the rule.  Most of us do not fit in the category of a super model (male or female).  But most is always a majority.
Someone was assessing me one time which is embarrassing enough, but I thought their picture was pretty accurate.  They said, “you are not a looker, but you are ok.”  Personally, I will take ok any day.
The point for me is the body is not the whole story.  To me the mind plays an even more important role.  I will not try to look beautiful (maybe an impossible task) if my mind does not go in that direction first.  The body matters a lot, but I ask myself, does it matter the most?
To me, putting the body first is a mistake.  It highlights that maybe we have things the wrong way around.  I reckon it should be spirit, mind and body.  I will never forget a lady on “you can’t ask that” saying that where she came from in Africa, she was never more spiritually alive, but here in Australia she has never been more spiritually dead.
I reckon the reasons for that have to do with our priorities.  Maybe the Great Australian Dream should be one of many.