I like to think of myself as a level headed well informed individual. As part of my everyday life I watch the news, learn about the latest health issues through television and newspapers, and of course try to have some understanding of what is going on in the world. If you are like most people out there, these things could cause a certain amount of stress, anxiety, and panic in your lives without perhaps you even realizing it. Striving not to catch the latest flu is challenging enough, worrying the food you are eating might not be safe, or having the threat that someone could bomb or start shooting in a public place, could make the average individual a little crazy.
Would it be nice for a change to indulge in some of life’s little pleasures without being stressed out or feeling guilty? Imagine dining out eating rich food, and not considering your cholesterol level, possible heart disease, or high blood pressure? How about being intimate with someone without worrying the encounter could be fatal? Imagine waking up on a sunny day without being reminded all the time of the greenhouse effect, global warming, or the environment in general? I am not suggesting people practice unsafe sex. or eat themselves to death. The thing is to me the more advanced we become, the less we seem able to do.
With that said, I always liked to go back to my dearly departed relatives who immigrated to North America. Once they arrived life might have been hard at the beginning, but compared to what they left, this was paradise. They looked at life in a way we could only dream of attaining. They knew how to enjoy, and did not worry about the “what if this happened”. They simply were not aware of the dangers, and nothing could have been as bad as what they already experienced. Just like today, some folks live to ripe old ages, and others past away earlier.
In my opinion many of those relatives who died early might have been saved, if they were given the same medical treatments as people receive today. Just consider are advancements in cancer treatments, heart disease, and antibiotics. One of the biggest killers today is stress which causes many health issues. Maybe it is time to turn off the television, stop reading the paper for awhile, and live our lives the way we see fit for us.
What I am trying to get across is that each person is only given a certain amount of time to roam this earth, and none of us know how long it will be. So if we do everything legal we want while we are here, how bad would that be? Can anyone guarantee by doing everything to protect our health or environment will assure us a longer life? Try telling that to the families who lost love ones in natural disasters, wars, or the students who were senselessly murdered for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. None of those poor people would have wanted to wake up in the morning and be told you are going to die today, and there is nothing you can do about it.
Is ignorance bliss? That is an issue that could be debated forever!!!
