It is well to remember that if the eating is correct, it is difficult to become physically deranged, and consequently to become mentally deranged. Allow me to repeat four short sentences which are helpful and most important guides, sentences which ought to form a part of every child's education:
If ill, eat nothing, but live on water.
Eat only when there is a desire for food.
Masticate all foods thoroughly.
Always be moderate in your food intake.
These are the four golden rules regarding eating, and if they were adhered to, they would save us from an incalculable amount of sin and suffering. They would increase the duration of life and the joy of living. They would add to our physical and mental prosperity. Hence they are worthy of the emphasis given them.
In brief: Physical health is based on internal cleanliness, which can be attained only through moderation, that is, by not habitually overburdening the system, especially with food. Our bodies thrive when used, but not when abused. It is necessary for our physical well-being to get air, sunshine, water, food, sleep, rest, exercise, work and play in proper proportion, and in addition cultivate a kindly, balanced spirit. Drugs, such as alcohol, coffee, morphine, bromine, and hundreds of others which could be named, are not only unnecessary, but harmful.
The mental side is as important as the physical side. With a healthy body it is easy to have a happy outlook. Indigestion and biliousness can make a dreary waste out of the most beautiful landscape. The body and mind react and interact, one upon the other. When one is poised it is easy to get the other into balance. It requires a poised body to produce the best fruitage—a fine spirit.
It is necessary to be honest with one's self. Face life courageously and honestly. If you do, you will soon realize that the physical and mental ills from which you suffer are mostly of your own making. Then you can choose whether to let them continue or to end them, but if you choose to remain ill, bear your cross uncomplainingly, for you have no right to afflict others with your self-imposed sufferings.
On the other hand, try to see life from the view point of others, and you will often find that what you think is the highest good and most desirable in life does not seem worthy of great effort to them. Variety adds spice to life. To impose one's own views and ways on others has always seemed desirable to the majority of people, but it is the height of folly and stupidity. So long as the race exists there will be many men of many minds, and it is best so. We can not force any benefit, such as health or goodness, upon others. Instead of attracting, the process of forcing repels.