Health is Wealth

 

Money is handy. You cannot dispute it. It’s handy to buy food and clothes, to pay bills, to buy or rent a home or to buy a car (then pay for its upkeep, fuel, warrants, registration and so on). In fact, sometimes the more money you have the more you need for upkeep or repairs on the things you bought with your money! But money does not make you wealthy, it simply makes life a little easier.

How many times have I wondered what to wear today? For some people they don’t have a choice. When I think of those who have little or no money, I realise how spoilt I actually am. Now that we are retired we have to tighten our belts but are very aware how blessed we are that taxes (sometimes paid by people who might themselves be struggling) support us.

Money is also useful to keep us healthy although there is much we can do that costs little or nothing to stay healthy.

Even if you have a vegetable garden you have to pay for seeds or plants, as well as fruit trees or bushes. Then they need to be fertilized or sprayed for pests. However, if you can afford to put a little aside for these it eventually works out a lot cheaper to grow your own. Maybe you could swap with the neighbours or sell any excess?

Exercise actually costs nothing if you don’t do anything fancy and promotes both good physical and mental health. If you own a bicycle then cycling everywhere you can saves all the expense of running a car as well as making you fit. Walking is also a great activity and my absolute favourite. I walk almost every day and use the time to pray. It also allows me to observe the wonderful creativity of God and the changing seasons. Walking is kinder on your joints and is easier to do as you grow older.

 I feel really sad for those who never learned to cook and live on canned food and takeaways. No wonder we have obesity epidemics and children with poor health. There are still healthy and cheaper meals such as pasta meals which are filling and tasty. I was blessed to learn cooking alongside my mother. I learned good basic cooking—meat and veg mostly. Being confident in basic cooking led me to experiment and now we eat a variety of healthy but cheaper meals.

Drinking plenty of fluids, healthy eating and exercising are the basics of good health, even as you grow older. God provided all we needed, we just need to avail ourselves of His goodness. Good health (mental and physical) is our true wealth.