Health and Wellness in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example

Personal Reflection on Health and Wellness I consider myself a strong and healthy person. I came from Saudi Arabia to the United States of America to study. As a boy, my parents took very good care of me. Wellness was a matter of not being sick, but being comfortable, happy, and at peace with the world. We did not take a lot of medicines. Instead, we were served a healthy diet all the time. We also played a lot outside by running and playing sports and that served as our daily exercise. These basic things have shaped my beliefs about health and wellness. I once had a classmate in school who was very sickly. He would miss school often and when he came back, he would be very thin. I learned he had Cancer. My classmates and I were very surprised because we thought Cancer only struck old people. My teacher then had to explain that Cancer does not choose any age or gender or even status in life. She reminded us to take care of our bodies well so that there is less likelihood of contracting diseases. That got me more health-conscious. I kept myself clean all the time, made healthy choices in my eating and exercised everyday. Coming to America, I realized just how different the culture is and how Americans regard health. I come from a country where there is a limited choice of food as compared to here in the US where fast food restaurants abound. I look around me and see various kinds of diseases resulting from eating food loaded with calories and preservatives. On the other hand, I also discovered how fortunate Americans are because they are provided with health coverage from their government. Healthcare here is much more advanced than in Saudi Arabia. I also observed that children also play, but their kind of recreation is mostly done indoors, with video games. Television also plays a huge role in their lives that they spend so much time in front of it, while munching on snacks. Thus, they do not get enough physical activity and become prone to being overweight or even obese. The adults, on the other hand, seem to be obsessed with fitness, as seen in popular shows like “The Biggest Loser”. Exercise videos and a whole lot of gadgets that promise a sexier and more fit body abound in advertisements. Numerous diets have been developed such as the Atkins diet, Southbeach diet, the GM diet and so many more. Sometimes, these diets contradict each other in recommending which foods to eat or avoid that people get confused on what is the truth. Thinking about these things convince me that good health practices should start from childhood. If children have been trained to eat healthy, engage in exercise or more physical activities instead of just being entertained passively by electronic media, then they do not grow up to be adults who are obsessed to regaining their health and fitness. For me, health and wellness can easily be achieved by not only caring for the body with good food, exercise, enough sleep and maintaining one’s hygiene well. One should also consider caring for his mind and heart. This means feeding the mind with good thoughts, ideas and information from books, shows or worthy and sensible and worthy conversations with people. Right now, I have no problems with that, being a student. I am learning so much from my courses as well as from discussions with my peers. In terms of caring for one’s heart, I do not mean just physically, but to keep the heart happy as well. This can be achieved by having harmonious relationships with others and keeping peace with them instead of drawing up negative emotions and stress. Having no enemies and keeping a positive outlook in life truly brings about wellness. My current perspective about health and wellness has been influenced by my parents and teachers in Saudi Arabia who all served to be good role models to me by living healthy lives and having positive dispositions. I am grateful to my parents, for raising me with good health practices, and my teachers for stressing the importance of good health. In particular, I will never forget that teacher who explained to us possibility of having Cancer and other deadly diseases even in childhood. She was not trying to scare us, her students, but was educating us on being healthy and avoiding illness. As a young boy, her approach in explaining the situation of our sick classmate was commendable because she also addressed our own concerns about health. I have been fortunate enough to have lived in an environment that afforded me to live healthily. The quality of life that my parents provided me have kept me from contracting any serious disease that would threaten my well-being. I have also been exposed to good people who influenced me with their enthusiasm in living a clean life. Smoking and drinking and most especially, drugs, have been banned from exploiting my body. I can manage some social drinking, but it is mostly to enjoy the company of special people. I live a balanced life. I am a serious student, but I also know when to take a break and have a good time. School can be stressful especially when one needs to study for exams or beat deadlines. These serve as challenges to my health and well-being especially when I have to stay up late at night, or have no sleep at all in order to comply to the requirements. I know I have to be better at time management and organization so that I do not cram and be stressed by all the work, but somehow, that seems to be impossible at crucial times like midterms or finals. I know these are all part of university life, and I just have to strive to do my best without forgetting my health and well-being. If I do, I know, it would be more difficult to achieve my life goals and get hold of my dreams. Simply put, in order to reach my dreams, I choose wisely. I choose to be healthy. Read More