If it is not Broken, Why Fix It?
Overview
A relative of min who is big-time into alternative medicine.
A relative of mine who is big time into alternative medicine keeps telling me about new therapies such as yoga, homeopathy, crystal therapy, Bach flower remedy, Reiki healing, fasting, yogic breathing, ayurvedic medicines, liver detox, fasting, etc, every time I meet him, and I keep resisting his attempts to persuade me to try them out for myself.
New therapies such as yoga, homeopathy etc…
My argument is if it is not broken why fix it? If your television or microwave is working fine, do not tamper with it, and do not open it up to see how it works.
More recently a friend of mine confronted me with a question when hearing that I did not do exercise seriously. He asked, “Kishore, what is your justification for not exercising? I said jokingly – it is like rearranging deck furniture on the Titanic. I know that was not a good analogy, as the ship of our life is not sinking right now, hopefully, and not for several years. And we can improve our quality of life until the ship sinks if exercise is going to bring about some tangible improvements within the next few weeks or months.
The real reasons for my lack of motivation to exercise are two-fold – first of them plain and simple laziness and a lack of willpower to put up with the distress. The second reason is that I believe that the whole of our body is inside our mind, but the whole of our mind is not inside our body. If I am sorting out my mind through meditation, the body issues should get resolved. Again, that is not a fully satisfactory answer. Even if the whole of the body is inside the mind one may need to work at the body level also to keep things right. As even meditation teachers themselves go for walks and do yogic stretching exercises to improve their well-being.
My excuse for not exercising in the past had been that my work involved a lot of travel and walking, going to various locations was keeping me physically active. However, that was lost during the lockdown, and I would not step outside of the house for days together, and snack frequently. Unfortunately, it is not; the gut needs rest from constant oral intake to work properly. I did try to go swimming and to the gym before the lockdown but felt tired the next day and gave up after a few attempts. I also thought to some individuals are not hard-wired to exercise. Just as there are birds, butterflies, and elephants who are not hard-wired to build their muscles and exercise, the way a horse or a lion does. And I am one of those whose main task is not physical but mental.
My other argument against exercise
My other argument against exercise as – if I am not a sportsperson or an athlete, I do not have to increase the bulk of my muscle. Normal size and strength of muscles are okay. In a similar way I do not need to increase the bulk of my heart muscles, normal size, and strength is okay.
As regards choosing food items, there are hundreds of healthy foods, I cannot go on incorporating all of those into my diet. Things like pomegranate, kale, dark chocolates, kiwi fruits, carrots, fennel seeds, turmeric, banana, probiotic yogurts, brown and red rice, honey, dates, apricots, walnut, almonds, coconut, radish, ginger, kimchi, olives, artichokes, green tea, etc, I need to select a few and stick with them or keep replacing them with others after a few days or weeks of trying.
Similarly, there are hundreds of healthy lifestyle behaviors – yogic breathing, body massage, tai chi, Qigong, reflexology, acupuncture, acupressure, Pilates, yoga postures, walking, jogging, cardiovascular, aromatherapy, pranic healing, etc. I would go mad if I tried all of those.
More recently my thought process has changed. A friend of mine had chest pain that fitted the description of a heart attack, but the ECG was normal, and the cardiac enzymes were also normal. He saw a cardiologist who recommended a coronary artery CT scan and subsequently a coronary angiography. The scans showed that one of his main coronary arteries was about 70 percent blocked. This friend was never into a healthy lifestyle and did not care about eating healthy or exercising. He then asked the cardiologist, “can I reverse this blockage now if I did yoga or controlled my diet,” to which the cardiologist said, “it is too late my friend. This blockage has not developed in recent months, to give you an estimate, if you had come to me 10 years ago, we may have seen about 30 percent blockage, and about 5 years ago we may have seen about 50 percent blockage.” This means if my friend had started exercising and eating healthy his blockage would not have reached this level.
I remember a few years ago my GP said to me, “research suggests that everyone after the age of 55 should take statins as it prevents problems later.” I started laughing and said to him, “if my cholesterol is not high why should I take medication? If nature has produced cholesterol, it must of doing its work, and tampering with it be going against nature.” Perhaps taking statins in old age, even though the levels are normal, can have a positive impact on the build-up of blockages in the coronary and other arteries
In view of the above discussion, we can see that the dictum if it is not broken, why fix it does not apply to our health. If it gets broken it may be too late, the way crockery breaks down. We can do something now even if there are no symptoms to prevent things from breaking down.
I am reminded of the Buddha’s words here – treat and take care of your whole body the way you treat your wounds. Even slight negligence in taking full care of it can make your suffering worse.
My argument is if it is not broken why fix it? If your television or microwave is working fine, do not tamper with it, and do not open it up to see how it works.
More recently a friend of mine confronted me with a question when hearing that I did not do exercise seriously. He asked, “Kishore, what is your justification for not exercising? I said jokingly – it is like rearranging deck furniture on the Titanic. I know that was not a good analogy, as the ship of our life is not sinking right now, hopefully, and not for several years. And we can improve our quality of life until the ship sinks if exercise is going to bring about some tangible improvements within the next few weeks or months.
The real reasons for my lack of motivation to exercise are two-fold – first of them plain and simple laziness and a lack of willpower to put up with the distress. The second reason is that I believe that the whole of our body is inside our mind, but the whole of our mind is not inside our body. If I am sorting out my mind through meditation, the body issues should get resolved. Again, that is not a fully satisfactory answer. Even if the whole of the body is inside the mind one may need to work at the body level also to keep things right. As even meditation teachers themselves go for walks and do yogic stretching exercises to improve their well-being.
My excuse for not exercising in the past had been that my work involved a lot of travel and walking, going to various locations was keeping me physically active. However, that was lost during the lockdown, and I would not step outside of the house for days together, and snack frequently. Unfortunately, it is not; the gut needs rest from constant oral intake to work properly. I did try to go swimming and to the gym before the lockdown but felt tired the next day and gave up after a few attempts. I also thought to some individuals are not hard-wired to exercise. Just as there are birds, butterflies, and elephants who are not hard-wired to build their muscles and exercise, the way a horse or a lion does. And I am one of those whose main task is not physical but mental.
My other argument against exercise
My other argument against exercise as – if I am not a sportsperson or an athlete, I do not have to increase the bulk of my muscle. Normal size and strength of muscles are okay. In a similar way I do not need to increase the bulk of my heart muscles, normal size, and strength is okay.
As regards choosing food items, there are hundreds of healthy foods, I cannot go on incorporating all of those into my diet. Things like pomegranate, kale, dark chocolates, kiwi fruits, carrots, fennel seeds, turmeric, banana, probiotic yogurts, brown and red rice, honey, dates, apricots, walnut, almonds, coconut, radish, ginger, kimchi, olives, artichokes, green tea, etc, I need to select a few and stick with them or keep replacing them with others after a few days or weeks of trying.
Similarly, there are hundreds of healthy lifestyle behaviors – yogic breathing, body massage, tai chi, Qigong, reflexology, acupuncture, acupressure, Pilates, yoga postures, walking, jogging, cardiovascular, aromatherapy, pranic healing, etc. I would go mad if I tried all of those.
More recently my thought process has changed. A friend of mine had chest pain that fitted the description of a heart attack, but the ECG was normal, and the cardiac enzymes were also normal. He saw a cardiologist who recommended a coronary artery CT scan and subsequently a coronary angiography. The scans showed that one of his main coronary arteries was about 70 percent blocked. This friend was never into a healthy lifestyle and did not care about eating healthy or exercising. He then asked the cardiologist, “can I reverse this blockage now if I did yoga or controlled my diet,” to which the cardiologist said, “it is too late my friend. This blockage has not developed in recent months, to give you an estimate, if you had come to me 10 years ago, we may have seen about 30 percent blockage, and about 5 years ago we may have seen about 50 percent blockage.” This means if my friend had started exercising and eating healthy his blockage would not have reached this level.
I remember a few years ago my GP said to me, “research suggests that everyone after the age of 55 should take statins as it prevents problems later.” I started laughing and said to him, “if my cholesterol is not high why should I take medication? If nature has produced cholesterol, it must of doing its work, and tampering with it be going against nature.” Perhaps taking statins in old age, even though the levels are normal, can have a positive impact on the build-up of blockages in the coronary and other arteries
In view of the above discussion, we can see that the dictum if it is not broken, why fix it does not apply to our health. If it gets broken it may be too late, the way crockery breaks down. We can do something now even if there are no symptoms to prevent things from breaking down.
I am reminded of the Buddha’s words here – treat and take care of your whole body the way you treat your wounds. Even slight negligence in taking full care of it can make your suffering worse.
