Introduction

The prime time evening TV shows abound with advertisements for cutting-edge medical technologies. Personal health is naturally the topic of great interest for every individual. With regular bombardment of such technical information, an average TV viewer gets informed, confused, and brainwashed simultaneously; and maybe that is the intent of the TV commercials.

In industrialized societies, where the pace of life is quite busy, an average TV watcher seems quite gullible to spoon-fed medical information, advice, and promises of fast results with new drugs and medical procedures. Sometimes, crucial medical decisions are taken rather hastily and often prematurely. This book is an effort to present time tested commonsense approach to improved health and peace of mind.

“Haste makes waste” is an age-old good advice. In personal health related issues, these words of wisdom often touch a very special cord. An effective medical cure ensuring lasting results invariably requires prudence, patience and peace of mind. It is common experience that a simple cold will cure itself in five days without any medications. The same cold, if it is treated with well-advertised cold medications will still cure in five days, but possibly with lingering side effects. Recognize that the body’s internal built-in intelligence takes care of the cold, if you let it. All you have to do is to take adequate physical and emotional rest. But nobody seems to have the time to rest. We are so consumed by rushing around constantly. In the simple situation of a common cold, invariably your internal stress is the “Cause” and the common cold is the “Effect”. You have to remove the cause to stop its effect. The same logic applies to all diseases, which should be looked upon as imbalances triggered by internal stresses. It is a stress and strain or cause and effect relationship. When emotional stress causes imbalance within, the weakest link in our body snaps and the corresponding disease sets in.

A cultivated habit of introspection enables us to identify internally generated stresses and their magnitude. You live in your body all the time and therefore you are the most qualified to identify your own internal physical as well as emotional stresses. Realize that you can easily hide from others, but you cannot hide from yourself even for a moment.

In appropriate cases, treatment with medicines and invasive medical procedures are essential to manage imbalances. Respect your doctor’s input but let your intuition and trained introspection help you make wise choices.

The above philosophy is the basic approach to better personal health management suggested throughout this book. Embrace life with a positive attitude and enjoy its full potential to maximize yourself.

Recognize that the most precious asset that you will ever wish to acquire will be “Peace of Mind”. Without it, you will always feel incomplete. This book is an effort to present a practical commonsense approach for ensuring good physical and emotional health throughout lifetime. Wish you a happier and healthier “You” all the way through your journey of life.

My wife Usha and sons Deepak, Vikas, and Sagar have empowered me in their own genuine, individual, and affectionate ways to present this edition of “The Constant Balancing Act”.

Suresh M. Deo