HEALTH NOTES

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 64, Issue 4557, 8 April 1942, Page 3

HEALTH NOTES

WE ALL PLAY THE GAME

(By

Martin Kimbel, M.I.H.S.)

Everything has a price, and we pay this price either directly or indirectly. Not only has everything we do a price put upon it in one way or the other, but also everything we neglect to do has a price ticket attached to it, and that price has to be paid sooner or later. It is something like a game of put and take: sometimes you put in and at other times you take out, and you always take out more than you put in. It is the game of life, and everyone has a part in it; there are no rehearsals; you just play any part you like that you think will suit you, and this game starts right from the cradle. At that time you perhaps are not taking any particular interest in the game, but you soon begin to notice things, and every baby begins to understand the rules very much quicker than we give it credit for, and will very soon let everyone know when anything does not suit it.

There are, of course, certain rules like in any other game. If you do the right thing you can go so many pace's ahead of the other player, and if you do the wrong thing, well you might stick in the same place a very long time—get into a bog, so to say. The rules are not printed in black and white; every player makes his or her own rules to some extent. Some people cheat quite a lot—cheat even themselves.: That is alright, too, so long as nobody, even yoprself, finds but' you have cheated, but as a rule the cheat generally does not last the pace, and so is gradually left in the back, mostly depending on other players to give him a helping hand. There are all sorts of chances in this game; opportunities are just waiting to: be picked up by those who like to play the game properly; but most players just like the excitement of it and so miss the obvious, and of course they have to pay for this. We are all in this game, and so it comes about.. that:sometimes we meet a lot of other players with the same ideas as our own, then we use each other to help each other because our interests are similar, and so we get ahead much better. Of course there are also certain handicaps. These handicaps are mostly the result brought about by your parents in not teaching you how to play this game properly, or else they do not supply you with the right kinds of chips to put in. Then of course it will all depend upon yourself, and how much effort you put in, and the price you pay to get into the game properly. The tokens-or chips we use for this game are commonsense, concentration, patience, friendliness or love, honesty, industry and temperance in all directions. These get the best prices and will build you up a great reserve in many directions, which will carry you well through your life. Remember, you always get a great deal more .out of this game than you put in, and the price you pay in the way of tokens is, after all, very small in comparison. Well, then, there are a lot of players who think this slows the game down too much. They want excitement and they want to get ahead quickly, so they use quite different tokens. That is, they take a much bigger risk, and of course they expect to get a good return for it quickly. They use, for instance, intemperance, dishonesty, immorality, ignorance, cunning and ruthlessness, etc. Very often they come out on top, but if they do, they generally seem to go to pieces very quickly. They have not built up the proper kind of reserve which will stand by them, and sooner or later, if not in their own lives, but in that of their dependants, there comes a day of reckoning; in other words they have paid too heavy a price for what they got out of the game. If you use the right kind of chips, and ■ keep putting them in, you are building up a healthy body and mind, which is capable of thinking and acting in perfect harmony, which means happiness and a great many other things. You have laid a foundation not only for yourself, but also for your offspring, and so start them off properly in the game of life. On the other hand, if you are one of tbs’ players vzho likes the excitement of the game, and uses' the other chips or tokens, then you are likely to store up a considerable amount of wealth as far as money is concerned, but will also get other things out of the pool which will inore than destroy all that is made, through disease, mental and physical, hatred by your fellow men, and an unhappy existence to the very end of your days. As L pointed out, you make your own rules, so-it is entirely up to you how you play this game, and although you play -the game yourself, there are millions of other players who are in this with you, and it all depends how you are playing it whether you get their help or not, and that just means either success or failure. You will always get more out of the game than you put in, but it depends on what you put into it, and that is entirely up to you. You are your own master; you can do with your life what you like—that is, as long as it does not interfere with the game of others. If that happens then of course you are put out of the game, perhaps for a long time, perhaps for ever. And in conclusion I would like to give you a little hint of the best kind of chips to use; the rest you will have to figure out for yourself.. Cash in. on. Health, and you will be alright.