What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life?

A Guest Post from Raena Morgan:

Host of iHealthTube.com

At 62 years old that’s the question I’m asking myself these days as I seem to be winding up for the next phase of life rather than winding down into old age. It’s a question from a love song written in 1969 for the movie, “The Happy Ending”, which was nominated for an Academy Award. Some of you may remember or recognize it. The song has been sung by many artists over the past 40 years, recently reincarnating in a hauntingly beautiful jazz CD by renowned trumpeter Chris Botti, featuring Sting as the vocalist.

 

Considering what to do with the rest of my life is less about romance and more about idealism at this juncture. I came of age during a time of great idealism and social upheaval, protest songs and peace demonstrations. Now I find that sense of idealism resurfacing. However, I’m also keenly aware of this little snag: it requires stamina to stay in the game, make no mistake. It is my firm belief that without good health all the wisdom acquired through living, through participating in the messy fray of human society, can go to waste. While this can be the time in life to give back, to make a contribution, to make a difference, that’s very difficult to do if you don’t feel good, if you have no energy. Without vitality there is no vision.

Philosophy was my major in college, so when I came across this quote from 19th century British philosopher Herbert Spencer recently I took it to heart: “The preservation of health is a duty. Few seem conscious that there is such a thing as physical morality.” That lofty sentiment is almost laughable in decadent 21st century America where the multitudes are seduced to eat with reckless abandon, resulting in a multitude of ailments and maladies. We urgently need to adopt a “physical morality.”

 

It was actually philosophy, inadvertently, that led me into the field of natural health. A class in metaphysics led me to the work of the late Edgar Cayce, who used all natural remedies in his healing recommendations back in the 1930s and 1940s. One of his health principles that really captured me was that of maintaining a healthy acid/alkaline balance in the body. It was one of those “aha” moments. I even moved to Virginia Beach, VA after college for a year to study and work at the Association of Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.) which houses the Cayce readings. That began my decades long involvement with natural health and healing.

The next life-changing experience that came my way was the “health and humor” movement of the early 1980s. There was a conference in St. Paul, MN featuring Dr. Norman Cousins, author of “Anatomy of An Illness.”  Given a death sentence by the medical community for an incurable disease, Cousins holed up and watched funny movies and reruns of funny TV shows and literally laughed himself into remission. Thus, the evidence was in—laughter really was the best medicine—it enhanced and restored the immune system!

That conference was so compelling that it led me into the realm of comedy. I became a stand up comedian in Minneapolis/St. Paul for a number of years feeling that I could serve the common good of “wellness” by making people laugh. Now, I didn’t just jump into entertainment, I had been a singer/songwriter for years performing in coffee houses and cabarets as an avenue of creative expression. So it was fairly easy to transition into comedy by writing funny songs and doing impressions of other singers.

 

Certainly going into comedy for healing purposes was a noble gesture, but I came to learn that the showbiz lifestyle is grueling and that everything negative that is said about it is true. Late nights, alcohol and eating on the run take their toll. Alas, I became very acidic, eventually developing fibromyalgia. That’s when I left comedy behind and embraced nutrition and natural remedies again wholeheartedly.

My focus became reinstating a healthy acid/alkaline balance in my body, which later led to developing a line of “Alkalizing” products called, appropriately, Body Rescue.  The product line has been available through Swanson Vitamins and in health food stores across the country for a number of years now. The Cayce place in Virginia Beach, the A.R.E., carries the “Alkalizing Tea.” I also learned that while laughter is good medicine, you need to supplement it, as well as practice sound nutrition.

So, what am I doing the rest of my life? At the moment I am a video host for iHealthTube.com, a partner to Swanson Vitamins. In addition, I am a radio co-host for a regional weekly “Wellness Hour.” My job is to interview people all over the country who are experts in the field of natural health. It’s so exciting! My guests include authors and practitioners of integrative medicine, as well as scientists who have done significant studies on vitamins, minerals, herbs, enzymes, antioxidants, and all manner of products that bring us wellness.

In future blogs I will pass along some of the valuable information I am gathering from these experts. This is information that can vastly improve the quality of the rest of all of our lives, providing us with energy, health and mental sharpness. You can also log onto www.iHealthTube.com  and watch short, concise educational videos on a myriad of topics. We have over a thousand videos now.

In the end, vitality makes the difference. And as Ralph Waldo Emerson put it so succinctly: “The first wealth is health.”