4 The Hampton Roads Messenger Editorial


A Healthy Mind, Body and Spirit Equates to Healthy Finances


Learning to play a musical instrument; doing math in your head; taking a cooking class, which uses several senses that all involve different parts of the brain; learning a foreign language or


improving your vocabulary; BY ANGELA JONES Before we begin on a path to


successfully reaching our financial goals, we have to take inventory of where we are at the beginning of our journey on the road to success. Do we have a healthy mind? Do we have a healthy body? Do we have a healthy spirit? Society tends to make one believe that it takes a fat bank account to be successful in all areas of life, but that is not the case. Actually, it is much easier to obtain a healthy bank account when one’s mind, body and spirit are functioning optimally.


Before one begins work on


any other area of their life, it would behoove them to “Get their mind right.” Just as it is important for athletes to do what it takes to “Get their head in the game,” anyone looking to improve their financial fitness should ensure that their mind is sharp. Te same adage of “if you do not use it, you will lose it” applies to the mind as well. It is important to challenge one’s own mind. In an article on everydayhealth.com, Linda Melone recommends 10 brain exercises that boost memory. Tese exercises include: Testing your recall by making lists such as a grocery list or a to do list, memorize it and then test yourself an hour later by seeing how many items from the list you can recall;


creating word pictures by visualizing the spelling of a word and imagining any other words that begin or end with the same two letters; Drawing maps of new locations you visit aſter you return home; Challenging your taste buds by trying to identify individual ingredients when eating, including herbs and spices; improving your hand-to-eye coordination by learning a new skill such as knitting, drawing, painting or completing puzzles; and learning a new sport that involves both the mind and body like golf, yoga or tennis.


mental abilities,


When trying to optimize our it


to not use mind-altering drugs like alcohol or marijuana. As


is also important the gap


between the haves and have nots continues to widen, it is important to have all of our mental faculties at all times. Tere are places in the U.S. right now where people making six figure incomes have to sleep in their cars because the cost of living is so high in those areas. It can happen anywhere or everywhere one day. Tere are people plotting every day on how they can illegally or legally take our money; therefore, we have to be just as vigilant in determining ways to keep it.


Te “programming” on television


does not help with keeping our minds sharp and free from brainwashing. Turn it off. Even sports on television is promoted to preoccupy us while others are scheming to keep us ill-prepared for their attacks on our finances.


Once we have our mind taken


care of, we can start thinking of ways to get our bodies in tip-top shape. We know what it takes. We have heard it


all at least once. We have to exercise, we have to eat right and we have to get at least eight hours of sleep. We do not have to go overboard in any of these areas, we just have to make an effort in all of them.


Tirty minutes of exercise a day, at


least three days a week is not a whole lot of time, but it can truly make a difference in one’s health. Exercise should be fun. Dancing, hula hooping and basketball are all exercises that many people enjoy. Keep in mind that to maintain a healthy body, weight bearing exercises are necessary. Some examples of weight bearing exercises are weight


training,


walking, hiking, jogging, climbing stairs, tennis, and dancing. When we find exercises that we enjoy, working out will become routine.


Along with exercise, eating


the right foods like raw fruits and vegetables will help one to develop a healthy body. Although it


is great to


eat a variety of foods to get many of the vitamins and minerals that our bodies need to function properly, sometimes it is necessary to take supplements. For instance, people of color have a difficult time in the U.S. getting enough vitamin D through our diet or through sun exposure. Te same melanin that protected our ancestors, who lived closer to the equator, now prevents us from getting sufficient absorption of vitamin D so far North of our ideal climate. Also, testing used to determine appropriate levels of some compounds were not developed for us.


When Africans were brought to


this country, there may have been a medical reason why they were not able to overpower their captors. Vitamin D deficiency causes many symptoms including Fatigue and Tiredness; Bone and Back Pain; Depression; Impaired Wound Healing; Bone Loss; Hair Loss; and Muscle Pain. It has also been associated with Heart Disease


and Multiple Sclerosis, and Muscle Weakness, as well as a plethora of other ailments.


It is estimated that most African


Americans are deficient in vitamin D and supplementation is necessary. Blood tests are a good place to start when checking to be sure we have ample supplies of specific vitamins and minerals flowing through our bodies, but


further testing is


necessary. We should ask our doctors if the tests that they are using are specifically for African Americans.


Taking a multivitamin is a good


idea but they should be sex and age specific and doctor recommended if you are taking medications. For example, postmenopausal women need less iron than premenopausal women. Also, some supplements increase the blood’s ability to clot and, if you are on a blood thinner, that may not be a good thing.


When one’s mind and body are


healthy, their spirit will follow. If we always seek peace and quiet, our spirit will be able to ascertain what is required to keep it healthy. When we constantly have the background noise of our televisions and radios it is difficult to be in tune with our spirit. Tese devices allow us


to become


“programmed” by the spirit of others. Tere are only two types of spirits in the world: good and evil. When we have solace, we are able to choose which type of spirit we want to be. When we listen to internet, television and radio “programming” our lot in life is chosen for us.


Determine your level of financial


success with a healthy mind, body and spirit. Live the life that God intended for you to live and not the life that the greed of others has tried to predetermine for you. With renewed energy, go out into the world and take back your money and your life.


Volume 12 Number 6


March 2018


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