FertilehealthyAiming for success, not perfection…

Karla from Living a Whole Life found this poem in the back of one of her naturopathy textbooks and published it on her blog. And I’m shamelessly filching it, because I want you to read it and I know that many people don’t click through.

On a day where many people are celebrating freedom, I want us all to remember that freedom doesn’t mean that the system is perfect. Because of the hold of Big Business on all aspects of government (just look what they spent in lobbying in the first quarter of 2009 alone!), your right to health and safety is being trampled under in the stampede to make more money for the big corporations.

“Prevention is better than cure” may be an old adage, but it still holds true today, despite the fact that millions of dollars are being spent on research into cures for diseases that are easily prevented. Now more than ever, it is up to YOU personally to take responsibility for your own health, because nobody else will. In fact, there are many forces actively trying to confuse you and prevent you from doing so.

A Fence or an Ambulance*

“Twas a dangerous cliff, as they freely confessed,
Though to walk near its crest was so pleasant;
but over its terrible edge there had slipped
A duke and full many a peasant.
So the people said something would have to be done,
But their projects did not at all tally;
Some said, “Put a fence around the edge of the cliff,”
Some, “An ambulance down in the valley.”

But the cry for the ambulance carried the day,
For it spread through the neighboring city;
A fence may be useful or not, it is true,
But each heart became brimful of pity
For those who slipped over that dangerous cliff;
And the dwellers in highway and alley
Gave pound or gave pence, not to put up a fence,
But an ambulance down in the valley.

“For the cliff is all right, if you’re careful,” They said,
“And, if folks even slip and are dropping,
It isn’t the slipping that hurts them so much,
As the shock down below when they’re stopping.”
So day after day, as these mishaps occurred,
Quick forth would these rescuers sally
To pick up the victims who fell off the cliff,
With their ambulance down in the valley.

Then an old sage remarked; “its a marvel to me
That people give far more attention
To repairing results than to stopping the cause,
When they’d much better aim at prevention.
Let us stop at its source all this mischief.” cried he,
“Come neighbors and friends, let us rally;
If the cliff we will fence we might almost dispense
With the ambulance down in the valley.”

“Oh, he’s a fanatic,” The others rejoined,
“Dispense with the ambulance? Never!
He’d dispense with all charities, too, if he could;
No! No! We’ll support them forever.
Aren’t we picking up folks just as fast as they fall?
And shall this man dictate to us? Shall he?
Why should people of sense stop to put up a fence,
While the ambulance works in the valley?”

But a sensible few, who are practical too,
Will not bear with such nonsense much longer;
They believe that prevention is better than cure,
And their party will soon be the stronger.
Encourage them then, with your purse, voice , and pen,
And while other philanthropists dally,
They will scorn all pretense and put up a stout fence
On the cliff that hangs over the valley.

Better guide well the young then reclaim them when old,
For the voice of true wisdom is calling,
“To rescue the fallen is good, but ’tis best
To prevent other people from falling.”
Better close up the source of temptation and crime
Than deliver from dungeon or galley;
Better put a strong fence round the top of the cliff
Than an ambulance down in the valley

-Joseph Malins

It’s time for all of us to become revolutionaries and fight for our freedom from propaganda advertising and blatant greed. Like all revolutions this is a grass roots effort. YOU can make a difference by educating yourself and having the courage to defy the prevailing culture.

Freedom is never free from responsibility.

I leave you with the words of Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), the 26th president of the United States:

“The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life.”

*This poem was written in 1895!