Healthy Life Style: Why should I care? Umid Abidhadjaev Each person has its own life style. At least, he or she is trying to have a style of life which gives them an opportunity to realize their dreams and reach the goals they aimed at. Before writing the essay I gave some thought to the phrase healthy life style. What does the healthy life style mean? What should a human being understand through these words? Usually, in our streets we can observe photos in billboards, where is described a young family with their children and we are explained that healthy life style is something, which is connected, firstly, with healthy sexual life, secondly, with weight losing and thirdly, with periods between giving a birth to a child. Another interpretation of this phrase is a type of living without taking narcotics and nicotine. But, I supposed to think, that these definitions do not open the real core of that ideal life style, which in origin does not have to be directed only at some narrow groups of society. In my opinion, the above-mentioned set expression has extremely wide meaning, which may affect everybody in our world irrespective of their nationality and origin, age and sex, social position and location. So, the healthy life style is such kind of life which is to be found as unique for everyone and is might be chosen and used without specific conditions or necessary prerequisites. It should be constructed, from my point of view, on three main values: physical, intellectual and spiritual. Similar features of people s life are explained at greater length in the book of my favorite author Stephen Covey entitled THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE. Restoring the character ethic. In his book the author brings 4 factors of renewing, which support and develop your most valuable resource You 1. Moreover, these things haven t been invented recently, this way or style of living are not composed by anybody, and so three following values are integral components of our life. Let s look at each value taken separately. PHYSICAL VALUE. I am entirely sure, that all the nations in the world have their own sayings and proverbs, constituting the importance of being healthy. Uzbek people say: the biggest fortune in the world is health. I see the reality of this phrase when I come 1 See Covey Stephen R. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
across with illness. Neither Your villa of hundred hectares nor your shares in the shareholders equity of the world famous oil-gas producing company can be of importance for you as the health of your daughter or mother. So, the physical condition of our body is the first decisive factor which estimates the effectiveness of our chosen life style. It means that the healthy life style should take into consideration the systematic physical exercises and a good rest after each leisure time exertion. Furthermore, there is need for a good food ration. Just several years ago wide range of TV actions in the local televisions, propagandizing the family sport were actively held. As for me it was one of the best ways to reach the population and explain the dramatic role of physical exercises in keeping the health of their families. I would like to show the importance of such actions in a simple comparison from my own life. This summer thanks to a scholarship of a foreign exchange service I had a chance to visit Europe and as I had been informed about the role of football there, so I took my new football trainers, which I had bought just before leaving. From the first days of arrival I started to play football, visit historical sights of Europe like St. Stephen s Cathedral in Passau and House of Mozart in Salzburg, and it gave me complete satisfaction. So I spent my whole month in Europe, and only at the end of the course I found out that my trainers had been badly torn off and scratched all over. It was quite expensive trainers, but now then I was not able to make anything with them. But I wish I had been more attentive to them before, after each game or trip. I wish I had cleaned them regularly and put in a proper place. May be then I would not have such a result now. The same thing could be said about our body. Throughout the whole life we underestimate the importance of body-training and regular physical exercises and obtain different kinds of deceases as a result. We lie at the hospital and wish we had a stronger body, which would be able to strike with illness. Here it should be noted, that very often we need to lose something in order to understand the real value of that thing for us So let s do not make our trainers torn off and pay the proper attention to physical exercises. Let s spend at least 20 minutes of our life per day for physical exercises with our family, wives and children, brothers and sisters. I feel in my bones, that hereby you may prolong the happy and free from any illness life of your parents, take care of your children and just be healthy. INTELECTUAL VALUE.
Old proverb reminds us: a healthy spirit is in a healthy body. Thus, the healthy life style, which we are going to held, should have an intellectual major. It is an open secret that usually our intellectual degree depends from traditional education, which covers firstly our study at school, secondly our time at college or lyceum and thirdly the study at the university. Consequently, after graduation most of us do not keep on widening of our intellectual skills. Just now, pause upon reading and ask Yourself, what book related to Your specialty or major You have read recently, how many scientific journals on the whole You have read during the last month, whether You are informed about the latest achievements in Your professional sphere May be we are healthy physically, but what happened to our intelligence? Demanding for knowledge is the duty of each Muslim man and woman said once Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him). Knowledge is the result of repetition said great Chinese teacher Confucius. Throughout the whole existence of mankind people needed the theoretical knowledge which could assist them in self-realization and building a happy life. Why do we have great satisfaction when we have a chance to speak with a person who has visited many countries in the world? Why do we try to find a map of the town and find the place we need firstly on the map, and only then being guided by it, we step forward to the address, we need to reach? If we know, that the life consists of cycles and the history repeats itself, we understand the huge importance of knowledge searching. Today we accustomed to spend our time in front of television or Internet and as a result, our world-view is formed according to the information we obtain from them. If you don't read the newspaper, you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed said once Mark Twain. Sometimes I suppose, that if he were our contemporary, he would say the same words about present television or Internet. While watching the television we unconsciously imbibing the demonstrated values, which affect our imagination more considerably than we can imagine. Our youth intends to smoke imitating the heroes of blockbusters, change their traditional habits and manners, not realizing that life style in films greatly differs from real healthy life style, we are discussing about. Everything is compared to those in the net or television and the decisions are made proceeding from what we have seen on TV. I am not trying to persuade you, that television and internet are the root of all evil and we need to eradicate them in order to have a healthy life style. Dear TV staff, I am excessively grateful to you for your quality programs which help us to enrich our educational life, and simply enjoy. Of course, I become extremely happy when I easily get the necessary information on Internet. However to have a healthy life style, we need to control and filter that information-stream we get from them. Alternatively, we need the intensive book reading, which improves our intelligence and enhance our world-view. Only then, it could be called as a healthy life style, which includes daily reading and analyzing. Great Uzbek writer of the
20 th century Abdulla Qakhhor said: Literature is stronger than atom (bomb), but it should not be used for wood hewing. So let s find out that kind of literature, which will enable us to familiarize ourselves with the great educational heritage of ancestors and modern scientific achievements in our professional sphere. Waiting for the train at the Main Train Station of Frankfurt on Main, I came across with the billboard, which I keep in mind for the rest of my life. There was written: Schenken Sie Ihren Kindern kluge Eltern which means Present your children clever parents. Thus, having the course of the healthy life style, we need to teach ourselves and our children to intensive and extensive reading, self-education and permanent improvement of professional skills, which create the best ground for happy life in this world, one of the final aims of living with proper life style. SPIRITUAL VALUE. At last I have a chance to share with you my thoughts about one of the main components of healthy life style spiritual value. As a matter of fact, everyone needs to refresh his spirit, somebody listens to classic music and somebody goes to the theatre. Nowadays, as it seems to me, more and more people refer to religion, trying to make their spirit stronger and healthier. So do I. If I were personally to define religion, I would say that it is a bandage that man has invented to protect a soul made bloody by circumstances was the definition of religion made by Theodore Dreiser in 1941. Choosing the healthy life style and strengthening our physical and intellectual sides, simultaneously we need to take care of our spiritual values. Because, it gives us the most important key power to overcome the difficulties and circumstances, which were meant by Dreiser. It makes you to be sure that you have chosen the right way to live, you are busy with God-pleasing job and you try to assist your neighbor to become happier. If we look back at history there were so many examples, which described the necessity of meeting the spiritual demand of a person. I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go said Abraham Lincoln, constituting his attitude towards the core of spiritual rejuvenescence, religion. In order to live according to the healthy life style principles, in my view, we just need to think about the final result of our life. About our deadline, which will surely come one day. Just imagine this scene and think over, whether you regret that you had so little time to watch a soap opera on TV or argue with father, or whether you regret that you had spent so much time being busy with (as it lately occurred) useless and unimportant things, which,namely, sucked your time and energy. If we only had a second chance to make all this right So let s try to find our source of spiritual renovation and hold it with all our efforts. As I mentioned before, it may be listening to music, meditation or anything else, which will supply you with renewed energy and support as long as possible. I supposed to believe
that searching for the answers to some questions like, what is the main purpose of living or what should be appreciated the most coordinates us towards the most proper source of spiritual value. SUMMING UP Before answering the question, whether I need the healthy life style, I need to understand, namely, know what it means. What gets us into trouble is not what we don t know, it is what we know for sure that just are not so remarked Mark Twain. What he wanted to explain with these words? May be a person should at first properly understand the issues, clarify his goals and right actions which lead him to the achievement of his aim and only then take measures. Regarding the healthy life style I would like to emphasize once again, that above-mentioned three values are the main components of the healthy life style, which I really need. I am sure, that all of them are of equal importance for us, as important four factors (capital, land, technology and labor) of producing for creation of goods and services in economy. It means that we should develop them simultaneously. If you miss one of them and do not care about it, it cannot be called as a healthy life style. Only aerobics and fitness are not enough, there is need for intellectual and spiritual instruments as well. Thus, diversifying our majors of activities we invest in ourselves and became healthier from all three aspects.