III. HEALTH AND WELL-BEING 



KEEPING WELL 



Our control over our health is much like that exercised 

 by gardeners and florists over the growth of their plants. 

 Neglect or improper care is ruinous in either case. Health 

 and disease are essentially conditions of the cells of the body, 

 and of the fluids about the cells. Our mastery of health lies 

 in maintaining the right conditions. 



A knowledge of " nature's laws" is of little purpose unless 

 our manner of life is made to accord with them. Our un- 

 willingness to do what must be done in order to promote and 

 to maintain health will not protect us from the consequences 

 of not working in harmony with nature's ways. That people 

 who have reached manhood and womanhood in a vigorous 

 state of health do not maintain their health and efficiency 

 to eighty years and upward is due generally to wrong ways 

 in living. Many of the diseases proving fatal to men and 

 women in the prime of life could have been prevented if 

 these persons had been examined periodically by a competent 

 physician, and had followed his advice as to diet, sleep, and 

 exercise. 



Through the nervous system all activities of the body are 

 directed and harmonized. Good health is impossible when 

 the cells of the nervous system are exhausted. It is to be 

 remembered, too, that the bodily energy is limited in quantity, 

 and that what is expended in physical exercise is not avail- 

 able for mental effort. Undue expenditures for either or 

 both of these may rob the organs of the body of the energy 

 necessary for their activities. On an average two hours a 



31 



