Acceptance

When this video started, I instantly thought that I have already watched it but I was wrong. I am a person who particularly enjoys watching this kind of videos so, that might be the reason why I felt as if I have already watched it. When I make reference to “this kind of videos”, I mean videos that make people reflect upon issues that are so common than end up being unnoticed or overlooked.

How many times do we pay attention to the physical appearances of people?  I would dare to say that it is an everyday situation.  The first thing that we get to know from a person is the way in which he/she looks like. From that image that we first meet, our mind starts making a thousands of deductions about how that person might be. In other words, we tend to judge from what we see plus ideas that we have about that “kind” of people we see. But now, how many times has happened to us that that “first impression” wasn’t that accurate as it seemed it was? Sometimes, images don’t say anything. The fact that you wear glasses doesn’t necessary mean that you are a “nerdy” as well as being plump is not an equivalent of being a person with eating disorders...

The unnoticed or overlooked issue here is the way in which the social behaviour of judging by appearances exerts a powerful impact upon the way in which individuals look at themselves. In the video: “Comfortable” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0tEcxLDDd4, 50 peoples were summoned to carry out a project. That project consisted on asking them which part of their bodies they would like to change and all the adults could easily answer it and all the answers were related to social conceptions of beauty for example: Small ears, round eyes or being tall. Besides, some of them were related to aggressions that they have received such as being called “Dumbo”.

When the turn of the children arrived, the answers were completely different. They found the question difficult to answer and the answers where far from the expected: “Having like a shark-mouth”, “extra pointed ears”, “wings like birds”. All of them loved their bodies and only wanted to have extra abilities like flying like a bird or running like a cheetah. Isn’t it that cute?

We should take advantage of that innocence that children have and teach them to love and respect themselves just the way they are so as to encourage them to do the same in front of others. They are the ones who can make the difference and build a better world. A world in which heights, sizes and colours weren’t important because “acceptance” would be the common issue and “prejudice” the overlooked one.

       Thanks, Andy

Mens sana in corpore sano

The first time I read this, the Latin aphorism “Mens sana in corpore sano” came to my mind. This aphorism is usually translated as "A sound mind in a sound body" in English and as "Mente sana en cuerpo sano" in Spanish.

This aphorism appears in “Satire X”, a poem in which desirable things in life are listed. This poem was written by the Roman poet Juvenal in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD. Besides, it is part of the well known collection of sixteen satirical poems divided among five books, “The Satires”.

Here is the English translation of the poem:

You should pray for a healthy mind in a healthy body. Ask for a stout heart that has no fear of death, and deems length of days the least of Nature's gifts that can endure any kind of toil, that knows neither wrath nor desire and thinks the woes and hard labours of Hercules better than the loves and banquets and downy cushions of Sardanapalus. What I commend to you, you can give to yourself; For assuredly, the only road to a life of peace is virtue.

It can be construed to mean that only a healthy body can produce or sustain a healthy mind. It can also be said that a physical and mental health are the root of our welfare. In my case, I not only share those ideas but also hold the idea that our body has such a perfect mechanism than every single piece of it is connected to one another. When I mention pieces I am not only making reference to organs but also feelings and spiritual states.

The existence of a soul is something I don’t mistrust, in fact, I think that it is the one that exerts the most powerful influence over the most important hints of our personality.  Personality that guides the way in which we cope with every situation from life... Situation that always entails a sum of emotional reactions... Emotional reactions that end up affecting our organs.

It is our responsibility to take care of our health. We are the ones in charge of keeping our soul white and in peace by the way in which we behave; we are the only ones that can control every reaction and apply different strategies that can help us to be at ease despite the toughness of the situation we have to face and in that way, prevent our body from undergoing stress, diabetes, pressure problems, cancer and an endless etcetera.   

Let’s pay attention to the ways in which we act and react. Let’s place our welfare at the top of the list of our priorities. By doing so, everything will get better... Welfare is a condition that has to be constructed and that construction needs to be balanced and systematic.

Feeling well and being healthy is up to us and ends up being a lifestyle.

Thanks, Andy 

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mens_sana_in_corpore_sano

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satires_(Juvenal)#Satire_X:_Wrong_Desire_is_the_Source_of_Suffering