One grew up with the notion that certain ailments are more ‘age’ induced than anything else but in the last couple of years, ailments like cardiac arrest, stroke, and others, have killed more young people that I know than the aged folks.
So, when one sees aged folks in their 70s, 80s and even 90s still basking in good health-I am always compelled to ask WHAT IS THE SECRET OF THAT HEALTHY GENERATION?
Yes, I call their generation a healthy one because the advent of science and technology ought to enhance our chances at longevity, but the reverse seems to be the case.
These days…people die young-a direct opposite of what used to obtain in the days of our forebears.
I doubt if there were ailments like cancer, stroke, stress, hypertension, etc in those days and if there were-they were probably not as rampant as what obtains these days…making me suspect that the ‘health woes’ of this generation lies in our lifestyle.
A generation that is supposed to have an enhanced shot at longevity (what with our exposure to science and technology) is experiencing more deaths amongst its young than the supposed Stone Age generation.
In examining the impact of the lifestyle of this generation on our lifespan-we must not fail to look into issues like excessive pursuit of materialism(and its attendant stress),unhealthy consumptions and sexual perversion.
Is it not in this age that we hear of stuffs like anal, two/three-some sex?
I still question the reasoning of people who indulge in such…as if the ‘normal style’ is not risky enough!
I observed a few days retreat at a friend’s house-a few years back…a house that boasts of every modern ‘treats’-inside the fridge…ice cream, cake, chocolates, beverages, but not a single fruit!
In fact, the only cooked food I found in there was a frozen eba. Yet, he would be the first to tell you that he does not ‘swallow’ at night, does not consume red meat-plus other health dos and don’ts that he observes.
I think back to our aged folks in the villages who ‘swallow’ at any time of the day, eat all sorts of meat and still lived to a ripe old age.
Where could we have gone wrong then, if we are still dying young, despite our vast knowledge of modern health dos and don’ts?
A doctor friend once told me that a vast majority of young men (between the ages of 35-50) are impotent…according to some medical findings. And their type of impotence is such that they can’t even fertilise an egg without medical assistance or sustain an erection for more than a few minutes.
Again, one is forced to compare this dampening reality to seniors that are known to still ‘fire down’…even with off-springs, to show for their ‘labour.’
Think of what obtains now with female fertility and compare it to the time of our mothers-whose major headache was how to cater for the numerous brood they seemed to churn out with so much ease.
Their days even seemed to witness less complicated childbirths, despite the non- availability of sophisticated medical procedures.
This is a generation that seems to have it all when one considers how easy science and technology has made our existence…yet it would seem like the older generation had a better quality of life.
Does our modern lifestyle still accommodate communal existence like in the days of our fathers? Any wonder why there’s so much loneliness out there, despite claims of the world now being a global village?
I tell whoever cares to listen that boredom is a modern phenomenon-it never used to exist in the days of old because their setting had what I call THE HUMAN TOUCH-which our generation is losing at an alarming rate.
Science and Technology has inadvertently made us too ‘comfort-zoned’ for our own good. Easy life is what leads to boredom. We don’t go out of our way to do things for and with each other anymore.
These days, infusing the human touch in relationships becomes an inconvenience of sorts.
We send money and ‘technology toys’ to perform acts that require the human touch…why waste time and energy to go visit an ailing loved one when you can just Whatsapp “get well soon.’’
Ever wondered why people have so many friends on the social media but still feel lonely in real life?
Some of us even make more efforts with our ‘virtual relationships’-than we bother with our real-life relationships.
High time we realised that certain things cannot just take the place of the ‘human touch’ in life.
The human touch is what our forebears never joked with and that explains why issues like boredom, loneliness, suicide, depression, etc were alien to them!
Credit: Chukwuneta Oby, Guardian Woman
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