Taking Water for Granted

I’m on the phone talking with my uncle who is at the hospital fighting for his life. The noise inside my apartment is too loud, so I go out to the front porch where he and I can coherently continue our conversation without interruptions. While on the porch I noticed that my basil tree is starting to dry-up from what I think is lack of water and too much Sunlight. It too is fighting for its life, so I immediately go into emergency mode.

Without thinking twice, I picked-up a class, turned on the faucet and clean, crystal clear water fills it in seconds, and I provide my herbal plant with the precious liquid it need to slowly come back to life. Right then and there I realized how much I take water for granted; had the faucet failed to dispel its life saving liquid, as it always do, I would have been quite disappointed and my plant may have died of dehydration.

Would you use this water for any reason at all?

This precious, life sustaining liquid is so vital to our existence that without it we would die; yet we continuously takes it for granted while more than 1 billion people around the world has no access to clean water and 5 million die each year of water-borne diseases. We misuse and abuse the abundance of this colorless liquid, failing to contemplate what would happen if it was not so readily available for our countless uses and consumption.

Like most of the people living on Earth, I’m so used to turning on the faucet and brushing my teeth, washing my face or taking long showers with clean fresh water that I take it for granted, never really contemplating where it comes from and how impossible life would be without it.

Honduras, like most developing countries, is facing water shortage that can later become a full-fledged crisis if it’s not dealt with as soon as possible. As citizen of this country we can do our part to prevent this from happening by taking shorter shower, turning off the faucet while brushing our teeth, and filling our classes with just the amount of water we can drink. We should also fix all leaking pipes as well as all dripping faucets.My uncle was placed on a saline solution for hydration while at the hospital and has since recovered from his illness. My basil plant is thriving and providing me and my family with that unique flavor with which it infuses our teas and soups, and I have pledged never to take Earth’s precious, lifesaving water for granted ever again. As the saying goes, you don’t miss the water until the well runs dry, so don’t take water for granted.

Be concerned and conserve water; it’s earth’s most precious natural resource.

 

 

The Use and Abuse of Modern Medicine: Are We Killing Ourselves to Stay Alive?.

It would be quite difficult to argue against the benefits of modern medicine and the impact it has on today’s society.  As a matter of fact, in the last few decades, modern medicine has discovered the cure for deadly diseases such as Tuberculosis and some form of cancers, but are we killing ourselves to stay alive with the use and abuse of antibiotics and other modern medicine discovery?

Danger of misusing antibiotic and other medication

Used appropriately, antibiotics are modern medicine cure for infectious diseases caused by bacteria. However, with the misuse and abuse of this medical discovery many lives have been put at risk. Now a day everyone is diagnosing themselves with infection and taking antibiotics randomly.

If not used correctly, antibiotic can render one’s body resistant to bacteria, therefore placing one’s life in danger of not being able to fight a simple infection when necessary. Antibiotics should be used only when prescribed by a competent medical doctor.

Pain killers are some of the medications that are widely used and misused by today population. It’s easy to get hocked on pain killers and easy to acquire them with medical prescription, but they are rendering us addicts, and some of us even become victims of overdosing. As with antibiotics, pain medications should be use carefully to avoid detrimental side effects.

Why are we using drugs?

Undoubtedly, we are all on some kind of drugs.  Prescribed or not, we are all self-medicating and masking whatever physical or emotional pain we are facing. Suffering from a fever? Drink this pill. Sleeping too much? Take this one. Not sleeping enough? This pill will help. Depressed? Take this capsule. Too happy? This pill can fix it. There’s a pill for every kind of feeling or emotion we experience, thanks to modern medicine. Or ultimate goal and that of modern medicine is simple to mask and not cure, forcing us to depend on drugs for temporary relief of our ailments.

Dangers of modern medicine

One of the many danger of Modern medicine is the risk of toxicity of some medications: it’s difficult to determine the amount of a medication one can tolerated; giving too much of some medications can be toxic to the body,  not giving the right dosage can be useless and finding the balance can sometimes be difficult.

Another problem with modern medicine is the side effect of most medication, which can sometimes be quite numerous and in most cases worse than the disease it intent to cure, or in most cases, alleviate.

The bottom line is that we need to stop masking our physical feelings and emotions and start dealing directly with what ails us. If you can’t sleep stop drinking beverages that contain caffeine. If your headache is caused by stress, relieve your stress and the headache disappears. Before we engulf our bodies with drugs we should try natural ways of dealing with whatever it is affecting our lives. Proper nutrient and exercise along with proper rest is all the body needs most of the time.

Whenever possible, try to use natural remedies to alleviate minor ailments and discomfort, and avoid the overuse and misuse of drugs and other medication with which we might possible be killing ourselves to stay alive.

This does not mean that you should not seek the help of a medical professional if an ailment is persistent or unexplainable.  On the contrary, you should seek medical advice and information. The more informed you are the better you’ll be able to care for yourself and your loved ones

Loving and Respecting the Elderly People in Our Lives

It used to be that the elders were the most revered members of any community, tribe or family.

The elderly in our lives were held in high esteem and they were often sought out for advice about love, marriage, home remedies for illnesses and life itself.

As important members of our families, old folk were not only a source of advice and guidance, but they also helped raise our children.