The Choices We Make
The choices we make is a dilemma for each of us every day of our lives. Some choices are small, some are large, some are life-changing. There is a dam project in Peru that will wipe out not just 60 villages and displace their residents, but it will destroy a large chunk of forest which is an essential producer of oxygen and absorber of carbon dioxide. If the roots of the trees are left in the ground instead of removed, then the decay of submerged tree roots will result in massive amounts of carbon dioxide and methane being released. But it will create resources and energy for entire populations. Is it worth the cost?
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The Future of My Own Mortality
We try to do healthy things, not really knowing if they make a difference or not to our longevity. We don't really think about our quality of life, because today our quality is pretty good. I've been especially thinking about this lately because I don't have a husband, or any children. Who could I rely on if my quality of life declined?
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A World of Noise
So last night it was a gorgeous night for sleeping, meaning all the windows are open and the breeze was like out of a dream. And then the trucks began. Monday morning at 4:30 AM and it should be illegal! But the truth is that not only is my peaceful rest disturbed on most mornings, the idea of peaceful rest doesn't really even exist anymore.
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Doesn't Anyone Do Physicals Anymore?
I remember when I was a kid that getting a physical at the doctor involved not just being so nervous I could pee all the way from the car to the examination room, but it involved something that there seems to be so little of... time. A "physical" involved having a physical examination. Checking, eyes, ears, nose, throat, heart, reflexes, my walk, my stance and LOTS of palpation. So it took quite a bit of time because it also involved a lot of questions and a lot of talking. That doesn't seem to be the definition of a physical now.
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Choices to the End
My grandmother died recently at 96. She had been bedridden for a few years because of a choice she made many years before where she decided that eating fat was unhealthy and so she wouldn't eat an ounce of fat after that. Gradually her knees deteriorated, her joints weakened, she became more confused and lost her hearing. All because of the choice she made to not eat fat. It was the result of a harmless suggestion given to her by her doctor at the time, who wanted to point out that her cholesterol was a bit higher than her last visit and so removing some fat from her diet might be wise. She took it to heart...
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Can We Really Live Without a Body Part
The development of the idea of removing the gall bladder, the tonsils, the appendix and even the spleen was most likely as a result of on the spot necessity. It seems to be the status quo now that we can live without these, but the question that we should be asking is are we living? Are we truly living a healthy, vital life without these?
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