Mind-Body

Americans live in a culture shaped by men and women of the Puritan tradition. It is amazing to me how long their influence has lasted. I believe electronic media are gradually erasing their influence, but I believe their influence still holds among the aristocratic descendants of those English outcasts. And they still hold the power. Part of that Puritan tradition is to spurn the body's needs/desires in a self-flagellating way. John Adams, the second U.S. President, for example, would walk for five or seven miles when he was feeling ill to reconstitute himself. Had his genetics been different, he may well have died unknown to history with such a remedy. In my middle age, I have had severe illness, requiring high-tech medical interventions for my survival. From these several experiences, I have learned to sometimes allow my body to win, to absolutely rule, a particular moment in time. Rigid struggles for control over anything, including my body, I find, take more out of me than they are worth in the long run. Wisdom is knowing when to let your body win and when not, as with any other relationship.