For several years I paid little attention to one of the seven laws of success—my health. Someone observed, “Youth thinks nothing of health, and age thinks of nothing but health.” I am starting to reach the age where good health is a growing concern. After spending some time in a doctor’s office and a dentist’s office last week, I decided to review some basic laws of good health. I thought I would share them with you for your benefit as well.

The first law is to develop and maintain a positive, mental attitude. Mr. Herbert Armstrong wrote in his booklet entitled, The Seven Laws of Success, “Mental attitude does have considerable influence on physical condition. Most “successful” men—as the world evaluates success—do think constructively, positively, in a mental attitude of confidence. They do not allow themselves to think negatively or assume an attitude of fear, worry, or discouragement. They do not allow themselves to get into uncontrolled moods of griping and complaining. They enforce on themselves emotional balance…” We live in a world that can be depressing and stressing at times. It affects all of us to some extent. We must strive to accentuate the positive—to look on the bright side—to see the silver lining in the dark cloud. We are familiar with the adage… Laughter is the best medicine! This statement reflects the wisdom of Proverbs 17:22 (NKJV) which states, “A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.” Many studies have shown that individuals with a positive mental outlook enjoy much better health than those who tend to be pessimistic.

Another law of good health is to eat a proper and balanced diet. We are what we eat. The body is formed from the foods that we eat and a lot of sickness comes from a faulty diet. Some authorities say that we do not catch colds—we eat them. A cold or fever is merely the unnatural and rapid elimination of toxins and poisons stored up in the glands, resulting from improper diet.

We must be aware of cleanliness and hygiene. Perhaps you are familiar with the old saying—cleanliness is next to Godliness; the principle is correct even though the saying does not come directly from the Bible. God instituted ceremonial regulations commanding the people to bathe or wash their clothes after coming in contact with likely disease carriers (Leviticus 11:29-32). The lesson that God was teaching is that we should keep our bodies and belongings clean. Leviticus 13-15 gives guidelines for infectious diseases—if a person was judged to be unclean due to an infectious disease, they were to remain outside the camp for at least seven days.

We should also strive to enjoy some sunshine and fresh air each day. Our bodies need sunlight in order to function properly. Stephan Cooter Ph.D. of The Arthritis Trust of America wrote, “Sunlight and vitamin D affect the pineal and pituitary, which in turn affect the thyroid, which regulates all the body’s processes, its use of fatty acids, proteins, and carbohydrates. Without sunshine, growth, building, and repair would be impossible.” We should try to take some deep breaths of fresh air each day. One author wrote, “Most of us take in enough air to sustain life, but not enough to live it vigorously.” We breathe to get oxygen into our systems. Every vital process in the body depends on oxygen for its performance.

It is important that we get a moderate amount of exercise. Someone once observed, “If you don’t find time to exercise you’ll have to find time for illness.” Exercise stimulates deep breathing and increases blood circulation; it aids in the expelling of toxins from the system, and tends to produce normalcy in all bodily functions. The apostle Paul reminded Timothy that physical exercise is beneficial for this life, while godliness—of far greater importance—is beneficial for eternity (1 Timothy 4:8). While we strive for godliness, we should also strive for a little physical exercise. A little exercise can improve or help maintain our quality of life. For health benefits, the recommendation is to get a minimum of 30 minutes a day of moderate intensity activity on most days of the week. This won’t make you fit, but it will get you out of the 25 percent of the population that is the least active and at the greatest risk of disease.

Finally we must try to get proper sleep and rest. We are physical! We tire out and run down. We need regular periods of rest to function properly. Arthur Schopenhauer, a 19th century philosopher, wrote, “The greatest mistake a man can make is to sacrifice health for any other advantage.” Oftentimes we find ourselves sacrificing sleep or rest due to our busy schedules; this can have adverse effects on our health. When God created us, He commanded that we rest. We should rest each Sabbath and we must also get regular amounts of rest and sleep each day. Until the 1950s, most people thought of sleep as a passive, dormant part of our daily lives. We now know that our brains are very active during sleep. Moreover, sleep affects our daily functioning and our physical and mental health in many ways that we are just beginning to understand. Experts say that if you feel drowsy during the day, even during boring activities, you haven’t had enough sleep. If you routinely fall asleep within five minutes of lying down, you probably have severe sleep deprivation, possibly even a sleep disorder. Many studies make it clear that sleep deprivation is dangerous. Sleep-deprived people who are tested by using a driving simulator or by performing a hand-eye coordination task perform as badly as or worse than those who are intoxicated. Our bodies need an adequate amount of sleep to function properly.

A Spanish proverb states, “From the bitterness of disease man learns the sweetness of health.” We never value good health until we lose it and then it can be too late. Let’s never take such a precious gift for granted! Following these basic laws of health is a small price to pay for such a great blessing because “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”