Staying Healthy

If there were ever a time when just about everyone is striving for good health, it is now. Being physically, spiritually and emotionally strong is not out of reach. But it takes some work and quite often certain sacrifices.

It was intriguing to listen to the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, acknowledging that he was overweight. I am sure many people may have taken his example of going for a jog every morning and riding bike. It is not easy, as in his own words, “The good thing about starting a day with a jog is that nothing can be worse for the rest of the day.”

The wake-up call for Boris Johnson came in April when he was hospitalized with coronavirus and ended up in the ICU. He later commented, “It was not good. It could have gone either way.”

We do need to take our health seriously. Paul explained, “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (I Corinthians 9:27 ESV).

For me, it has been an up and down journey, and I have not reached all of my goals yet. Of course, there is the discipline of prayer and reading the Word. These have to be our determined lifestyle.

In recent months, “thanks” to coronavirus, I have established a habit—one hour of brisk walking four or five times a week. One particular hill in our neighborhood still makes me sweat every time. Then there is that gratifying feeling when I get back to our gate with four or five minutes to spare in the hour.

We definitely want to keep off any flu-like symptoms in this season. You do not want to go around coughing, sneezing or running a fever. These might be ‘normal,’ but are enough to keep one confined at home as the world is on high alert. (It is interesting that the price of lemons has skyrocketed as Kenyans try to stay free from these symptoms, and also coronavirus itself.)

In our next blog, I will talk about some of the herbs that come in handy in times like this.

~ Ibrahim