Happy New Year, Hivers. It’s obviously January 2026, and I am grateful to see the start of a new beginning, honestly, because many people witnessed Christmas but not the New Year. I am thankful for another opportunity to witness life as a whole being again. I feel good! I fought sickness, and I overcame!
It all began in the second quarter of 2025
It’s been voices that echo quietly after realizing that one has ignored what keeps them going, and gets so focused on life and its challenges. Just at that moment, every other thing halts! Life can be so unpredictable most of the time, but if we stay connected to ourselves, we can also predict and take the necessary precautions.
But oftentimes we wait till it’s severe before we take action, and that’s not how it ought to be. I think you are beginning to grasp the whole context, probably not, but let’s continue.
I have a question, though, and I am really curious about it: what is the estimated lifetime of a human?
If it were said that the estimated life of the human race should be about a thousand years, then would it be seen as a curse or a blessing?
According to the Bible, the human race lived for over 200 years healthy and strong. Have you ever thought about how they lived their lives back then? How did they get their food? How did they deal with life in general? When civilization wasn’t in existence, or is this just a facade? How do we get to the point that we live for just a few years, and some burial posters will term it “Glorious exit,” like seriously? For someone over 50 years or less?? What is glorious about the exit?
I know there are other factors, seen, unseen, and unforeseen, that can also contribute to early deaths (mortality).
The Bible celebrates life from 100 years above. It’s called “Celebration of Life,” and I know it's worth celebrating even when the individual is still alive. It was recorded for so many apostles and servants of God in the Bible.
Talking about the lifestyles of these people in the Bible, how did they live their lives, what did they eat, what did they drink, did they smoke, how did they cure sicknesses, and lots more? These lifestyles are now seen as outdated; civilization and technology have done more harm than good. The rate of sick people is growing, and the rate of people dying is nothing to write about. I guess it’s high time we create profound awareness concerning our health.
We should learn to return to the old ways of living, where we relied on water from the stream, herbs from the forest for medicine, and vegetables from the garden for food. We rely too much on imported foods, which contain all kinds of preservatives, and these chemicals are harmful to our bodies.
Back then, I remembered vividly those moments when anyone caught the flu, my grandmother would dice chunks of bitter kola with minty lozenges and give them to me to chew three times a day. After a few days, I had almost forgotten that I had a cough. It takes me a few days to realize that I had a cough some days ago. You might be wondering what the essence of this scenario is.
We should learn to go back to the old days when we didn’t use medications for every slight sickness. This post isn't saying you shouldn’t go to the hospital when necessary, but it’s conveying that we shouldn’t treat every minor illness with medicine and so forth.
Recently, I was in the hospital to run a check-up for myself because it had been a long time since I visited a hospital. I would be honest with myself that I only see the hospital when I have a complaint to make to the doctor about what’s bothering me. On reaching the hospital, I was observing the movement of patients and relatives moving from one post to the other, some going to a different department, ward, or clinic, while others were going to the payment point either for a scan, medications, or some investigations (tests) that the doctor recommended. I began thinking about everything that concerns health, not just me, but everyone I saw in that hospital. I asked myself one question, and that question was, “If the hospital was built to save lives and restore health, why are there so many people wandering here? Maybe I am being too irrational with my thoughts! I am beginning to think that it is more of a business than just saving humanity.
There’s a particular patient I saw, and I became so worried that I began researching the illness. Well, I couldn’t decipher it at the moment. I felt, though, that if I read what caused that ailment, I could avert it, but what if it’s a genetic problem that could only be managed? It’s a pity that fake information based on self-acclaimed experience is being disseminated all over the internet, leaving us with no choice but to be careful about which data we digest. Then, on the other side, we have internet doctors with no professional qualifications or certifications telling users what to eat and what not to eat. The internet has become a dumping ground for many users, all in the name of content creation.
As I surf through the internet and with some information from the doctor, I find out that the patient I saw has kidney failure! One of the leading causes of death! His legs were swollen, as if water had been added to his feet. I was traumatized for some time after digging up too much information. I began looking at the lifestyles we usually live that could be affecting our health. They are: smoking, drinking alcohol, too much salt intake, some foods and drinks, lack of exercise, dehydration, some medicines, and so forth. It’s of utmost importance that you do your findings, drift back to nature, and embrace exercises.
I ran some tests in the hospital that cost me over $68. Take me aside, what of those with serious illness? I was left terrified! Whoever brought about this phrase “HEALTH IS WEALTH’’ has passed through the funnel of fire, which is experience. Still, why must an experience happen for individuals to learn? Well, another phrase is “experience is the best teacher’’ No one will know until they experience that moment.
And it is excruciating for you to wait till you experience a hospital visitation to keep you in check with your daily lifestyles, diet, and so forth. Why would you want to learn the hard way before you make amendments to the way you live your life?
It has been most times to make money because the more the merrier. In addition, the current Nigerian economy looks like a triple hustle for an average person. That’s additional pressure in thinking about how to make ends meet, which can be detrimental to one’s health. It doesn’t make sense to make money and then use it to pay for healthcare services to treat an ailment.
In essence, try to strike a balance among your work life, health, and lifestyle, because health is truly wealth.
Thank you for reading!