Strive for Balance

What is the definition of a 'state of health?' The notion of balance is helpful in formulating a conceptual answer.

Balance is a state of stability but it does not imply a static condition like a table resting on four legs. It refers to the capacity of a moving or flexible item or of a person to sustain a moving force or disturbance, and to return to its initial state in balance as would a swing or hanging pendulum.

A reed pushed by the wind returns to its normal position when the wind stops. An athletic individual might trip and quickly regain balance whereas someone with poor balance would fall down and get hurt. Health requires balance — the ability to deflect or avoid an attack and promptly return to normal and full health. The medical term for a state of physiological equilibrium resulting from a balance of all functions is 'homeostasis.' So long as this mechanism takes place naturally as intended, we are healthy even if temporarily one feels the weight of a short-lived attack.

Clearly, some people have better genes than others. They are naturally more resilient. But your good genes alone are not enough. Lifestyle choices are a major contributor to our physical, emotional, and mental condition. In combination, they cause us to be more or less healthy.

Getting sick is not simply a factor of touching, ingesting, or breathing a disease-causing agent. Non-physical causes can also generate diseases. You have likely experienced the relationship between excess of worry and stomach aches, for example, which occurs without any outside agent. It is strictly a cause-and-effect process. The many forms of stress from modern life can affect our immune system and reduce our natural defenses.