A UNIVERSAL WANT

Hutt News, Volume 12, Issue 38, 15 March 1939, Page 1

A UNIVERSAL WANT

A few years ago an American institution undertook a comprehensive survey of the individual desires of large representative sections of the community, with a view to discovering the uppermost desires and ambitions in the minds of men and women. A suitable questionnaire was prepared and mailed to some I hundred thousand adults selected from every strata of society. In addition to questions relating to the more common human wants, it extended an invitation to the recipient to declare any desires peculiar to himself, and furthermore to set down his desires in their order of urgency or importance. The result of the survey was rather startling. At first sight, one would have imagined that their would have been an overwhelming preponderance voting for material or monetary wealth and the good things that money can purchase. As a ; natter of- fact, money was given second r'ace in the list of desires, but it was a poor second. First place was recorded in favour of health, and the irifogin was more than two to one. There was an almost unanimous desire for health. Health was the univeisal want, and what was true of America then is equally true to-day. not only of America, but of England, Europe, and of our own little community as well. It doesn't matter whether your health is already good or whether it is bad or indifferent You want health. Nor does it make one iota of difference whether you are sitting 011 the topmost rung of the economic ladder, or just struggling along as an underdog at the foot of it, you want your health just the same. Emerson must indeed have possessed a marvellous insight ir.to human desires when, J long before the days of straw votes and psychological surveys, he first gave expiession to the thought that "Health was man's first wealth." We have always regarded health as our most prized possession, and have held the view that it was the most pressing of all human needs, but we must confess to a little surprise that the desire for health was so universal as disclosed by the American survey. People usually yearn for that which is difficult to secure, but health is by no means ' difficult of attainment, providing the I desire is sufficiently strong to make a few sacrifices in time and trouble. You, yes, you, may have health for the asking, but you must ask earnestly and sincerely. Ask yourself, "how much is good health worth to you?" Not necessarily in pounds, shillings and pence, but how much in terms of time and in mental and

(By H. K and D. W. Adamson))

(Health Consultants)

physical effort to attain it. If health took the whole of your spare time for its attainment, it would still be worth while. Then why begrudge the few minutes daily that it does require, plus the sacrifice of a few habits and practices that even the addict himself condemns. We daily come in contact with •people whose disability has been brought about by some wrong habit of living, but when it comes to a choice between the habits and practices that have caused the disability and a more rational and commonsense regard for oneself, then the decision in favour of the latter is a foregone conclusion. Why? Because the dominant desire of every nwmal person is health, and when that person happens to be suffering from a lack of-this condition, he is usually ripe, over-ripe in fact, for the acceptance of rational and commonsense measures to overcome it. Everyone realises without being told that late hours, excesses of eating and drinking, smoking, etc., to name just a few, are practices that undermine the efficiency of the body, but when it becomes a choice between these and his health —Health wins nearly every time. You can do the same. We know you can, otherwise you would not be reading tliese notes, but sometimes even the -most intelligent and strong minded people have to given a lead in the right direction. First of all, you must take an inventory of all those little habits and practices which your own commonsense informs you are all wrong. Don't omit any under the pretence that a little bit won't do any harm, but take the bit in your teeth and ask yourself the question, "does it do me any good?"' There are such a lot of socalled 1 harmless practices which come under this category. Practices such as one more cup of tea, another lump of sugar or one more "spot," or another smoke, and so on, which separately may not do a great deal of harm, but the cumulative effect after a few years may be beyond calculation. Then, of course, you must uot expect to get perfectly well in a week or two, or in many cases in a month or two, because you cannot undo in a few weeks that which you have been years in accumulating. We are not exaggerating, however, when we say that if your desire for health is sufficiently strong to allow of your being started in the right direction, then you have overcome your greatest obstacle and a measure of health is awaiting you that would be available by no other means. j