Conditions Conducive To Health And Vigor.
The Bible.
178. The Bible is a leaf from the tree of life, and by eating it, by receiving it into our minds, we shall grow strong to do the will of God.
Exercise.
179. Neither are they willing to wait the slow process of nature to build up the overtaxed energies of the system.
180. Useful employment would bring into exercise the enfeebled muscles, enliven the stagnant blood, and the entire system would be invigorated to overcome bad conditions.
181. If physical exercise were combined with mental exertion, the blood would be quickened in its circulation, the action of the heart would be more perfect, impure matter would be thrown off, and new life and vigor would be experienced in every part of the body.
182. If invalids would recover health, they should not discontinue physical exercise. . . . There will be increased vitality, which is so necessary to health.
Pure Air.
183. They are deprived in a great measure of air, which will invigorate them and give them energy and vitality.
184. Fresh air is the free blessing of Heaven, calculated to electrify the whole system.
Sleep.
185. Nature will restore their vigor and strength in their sleeping hours, if her laws are not violated.
Bathing.
186. Bathing helps the bowels, stomach, and liver, giving energy and new life to each.
Influence of the Mind.
187. The latter class do not exercise the mind; their muscles are exercised while their brains are robbed of intellectual strength; just as the minds of thinking men are worked while their bodies are robbed of strength and vigor by their neglect to exercise the muscles. Those who are content to devote their lives to physical labor, and leave others to do the thinking for them, while they simply carry out what other brains have planned, will have strength of muscle, but feeble intellects. This class fall more readily if attacked by disease, because the system is not vitalized by the electrical force of the brain to resist disease.
188. Bring to your aid the power of the will, which will resist cold, and will give energy to the nervous system.
Conditions Unfavorable to Strength and Vigor.
Irregular Habits.
189. Misuse of the body shortens that period of time which God designs shall be used in his service. By allowing ourselves to form wrong habits, by keeping late hours, by gratifying appetite at the expense of health, we lay the foundation for feebleness. By neglecting to take physical exercise, by overworking mind or body, we unbalance the nervous system. Those who thus shorten their lives by disregarding nature's laws, are guilty of robbery before God.
Overwork.
190. Those who make great exertions to accomplish just so much work in a given time, and continue to labor when their judgment tells them they should rest, are never gainers. They are living on borrowed capital. They are expending the vital force which they will need at a future time. And when the energy they have so recklessly used, is demanded, they fail for want of it. If all the hours of the day are well improved, the work extended into the evening is so much extra, and the overtaxed system will suffer from the burden imposed upon it. I have been shown that those who do this often lose much more than they gain, for their energies are exhausted, and they labor on nervous excitement. They may not realize any immediate injury, but they are surely undermining their constitution.
HL 45-47