Health

You never appreciate or value your health until you get sick and when a person is sick a lot of things happen to him.He suffers from so many aspects,treatment pain and effects on those close to him.
I remember I was struck by a strange affliction in 1986.It was after the Sultan's Installation and I worked as a Proctocol Officer looking after the Goverenor of Melaka.At least he was not a sultan and not so demanding but still it was not easy looking after him for a few days from early morning till night.It was more stressful than anything else as we had to make sure that nothing went wrong.After that I took a few days leave and told the family we would go to Camerons where I can get a good rest.
On the second day,I woke up and found my mouth went crooked and i could not speak.Trauma,fear and all kinds of thoughts went through my mind.More importantly thoughts of what would happen to mum and the children if I could not be cured.Quickly we rushed down to Ipoh and saw a specialist doctor who immediately gave me a steriod jab.Notwithstanding that mum took me to a temple where I was given pomelo leaves with some spell written on it and I had to chew and swallow it>My mouth could hardly open ,it was as though it was paralyzed.More interestinly mum got me to see a bomoh and she said that I was afflicted by an " Angin Buruk" when I walked past the railway station.I remembered then that there was a dinner at the Town Hall which was near the Railway station and I had to park my car near the clock tower and had to walk from there passing the Railway Station.There was therefore this connection.Anyway she bathed me with the 7 flower water and gave me a talisman to wear .in the meantime I continued seeing the specialist and getting the daily jabs.
It was a difficult time...I suffered mentally,physiologically,and physically>I could not eat and only took liquid diet because I could not open my mouth.If it was difficult for me it was even more so for the family and I tried to be brave and not be a nuisance to anyone.Finally after a month I was almost back to normal and it was a mixture of western medicine,Malay bomohism and Chinese medicene which cured me.
Since then I have always realized the importance of health and staying healthy is not something which you can take for granted.You have to work for it.The human body is like a machine made up of so many parts and unless you look after the parts well its bound to break down .A good healthy lifestyle,eating and drinking the right things and moderation will help.Everone knows the value of exercise but how many actually do it? It just takes no more than half an hour a day to get enough exercise yet people do not spare the time.A life of discipline,sleeping early,working smart helps.Most important is our mental health.If you are not angry,stressed or upset by anything the mind is at peace and a peaceful mind breeds a healthy body.
And if we happen to fall sick we must remember that not only do we suffer but the people who mean most to us suffer too.