Health
Back to Advice to Young Ladies on
The highest degree of happiness and usefulness attainable in this world is not to be had by anyone who does not possess a sound mind in a sound body. Attention to health, therefore, is one of the first duties we owe to ourselves and society, because without a healthy body we cannot have a sound mind, nor efficiently perform our duties in life. This is so plain a proposition that all can at once comprehend it.
Young ladies are proverbial for being careless in regard to health; and this, strangely enough, is particularly the case with those who have the most delicate constitutions. The hundreds who die annually of pulmonary problems, owe, in two cases out of every three, their early death to unwise and unnecessary exposure of themselves, thinly clad, in cold and damp weather. The warnings of physicians and friends seem alike unavailing; and their earnest representation of the real danger that threatens them is treated as a chimera, conjured up by over-anxiety, to frighten them. Even the fearfully rapid encroachments of a deadly disease do not, in too many instances, give the requisite prudence; and the unhappy victim sinks speedily into the grave, with little less than the crime of self-murder upon her head. These things are sad to think about; and their frequency and familiarity make them none the less painful subjects of reflection. But, as the only hope of reformation here lies in continued precept, we deem it a solemn duty, whenever an opportunity offers, to add our voice to the general voice of warning heard everywhere on this subject.
The doing of anything that requires self-denial, or more than ordinary care, is dependent upon an adequate motive. One would think that there were motives strong enough to prompt every young lady to be careful of her health; and so there are; the difficulty is, that she cannot be made to feel that what she does, or omits to do, really injures her, because the ill effects do not become immediately apparent.
That such is really the fact, the sad results of just such an abuse of health are to be seen all around us — results that all intelligent physicians, and all people of observation and common sense, know must flow from the causes just set forth. Surely, then, an adequate motive for prudence and care in these things is to be found in the fact, that, if no regard is paid to them, the health will be undermined, or destroyed altogether.
Strict regard should also be had to the food that is eaten, and to the manner of eating it. The diet should be nutritious — but not stimulating, and the quantity of food taken ought never to be so great as to oppress the system. A good digestion, however, does not always depend upon the quality of the food taken; the best food in the world will be rendered indigestible if it be not sufficiently masticated, or is eaten too fast.
If any of our young readers can see the importance of the subject, viewed in this light, they cannot but feel more deeply than ever the duty that rests upon them to preserve their health for the sake of the happiness of others, and the general well-being of society. The consequences arising from abuse of health does not always rest with an individual; and a knowledge of this, if no other motive be strong enough, should prompt every one to seek its preservation.
Every young girl knows that she will, in a few years, have to take her place in society as a woman. Let her look at her mother and her mother's friends, and see how much the well-being and happiness of others are dependent upon the retention of their lives and the preservation of their health. In a few years, she will, in all probability, stand in the same relation to society as her mother now does, and have as many duties to perform, involving the comfort and happiness of others. If, when this time comes, through her youthful folly and indiscretion, her health is gone, her lot will be a sad one indeed. Pain and disability will attend the performance of even the most trifling duty, and she will be a burden to herself, and the source of anxiety and grief to her nearest and best friends; and, it may be, just as the tenderest ties that can bind a woman to earth are formed, death will rudely break them asunder.
What other considerations can we urge upon our fair young friends to induce them to regard the admonitions of those who love them, and are wiser than they are? The means of preserving health are accessible to all. There is not so much ignorance on this subject as disinclination to make a temporary sacrifice of present desires, in order to secure a great and lasting good. Such being the case, we have sought rather to present motives for the preservation of health, than rules for attaining the so much desired object. Where a disposition to take proper care of the health exists, a knowledge of the means necessary to be used are easily attained.
Back to Advice to Young Ladies on