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Wallace D. Wattles Ultimate Collection — Chapter-96: Suffering in Sickness
- Source: /library/Wallace D. Wattles Ultimate Collection/source-file.pdf
- PDF pages: 402–406
- Pages without text: 405, 406
- Note: Work: New Science of Living and Healing, section 9 of 9.
SUFFERING IN SICKNESS. Table of Contents MY ATTENTION has lately been called to the case of an old lady—seventy-six years old— who is suffering from a severe attack of asthma, complicated with la grippe. Her sufferings are distressing to witness. She coughs almost continuously, especially during the night, and expectorates vast quantities of mucous; there is much retching and straining in the desperate efforts nature is making to eliminate this filth from the overburdened system. Now this old lady belongs to that vast army of excellent women whose greatest pleasure is to feed their families, their visitors and themselves. It is not an exaggeration to say that most of her life has been spent in cooking, in eating and in thinking of eating, and in planning and preparing for meals. When she was younger, an active and hard working housewife, she ate heartily, and with some reason, because of her physical activities; but for some years now she has done very little work, and she has gone on eating, just the same. I do not know that she has eaten leas than during her years of active life. She thinks and talks continuously of eating, and of things good to eat; she frequently munches apples, etc., between meals; she “lunches” at all hours, and often at bed time. And for some years she has suffered intensely with rheumatism, asthma, and frequently recurring attacks of the grippe. It is impossible to make her believe that all her sufferings are caused by the terrible struggle her physical organism is compelled to make to rid itself of the filth with which she is continually gorging it; but such is actually the case. And the same is true of nearly all old people who suffer from the so-called infirmities of age. It has been said that when a man “retires” nature usually retires him permanently in a very short time; but the fact is that he usually destroys himself by continuing to eat as if he were still at work. Professor Metchnikoff discovered
that old age is caused by a germ which originates in putrefying matter in the intestinal tract; and he hit on the marvelously scientific scheme of drinking sour milk to kill the bad germs, as the sour milk germ is an enemy to the old-age germ. And by the way, what has become of the professor's great “discovery” that drinking plenty of sour milk would make us all immortal in body? Like most of the medical discoveries it seems to have fallen flat. It is about time for some other great “scientist” to come out with an elixir of life. Instead of trying to find a counter-poison for the old age bug why did not Metchnikoff simply advise people to eat less, so as to have no putrefying filth in the intestines? This was the plan followed by Lewis Cornaro, the feeble Italian, who lived to pass the century mark, often subsisting a whole day on half an egg, or a single bunch of grapes. And Cornaro, a broken down wreck in middle life, recovered his health and lived and died without suffering. There is no reason in nature why there should be aches and pains and physical miseries attendant upon old age -, it ought to be a period of physical rest and wholesomeness, and mental cheer and joy; and the reason why it is not is generally to be told in one word—overeating! The old lady mentioned above is very cross and crabbed; hating everybody, and disliked by most of those around her, she leads a loveless and wretched life; her vital power is so fully expended in eliminating the filth she continually shovels into her stomach that she has no strength to expend in loving people. And even in her misery, her whole thought is of something to eat It is the first thing on awakening in the morning, and it is referred to hourly during the day. “Isn't there something I can eat? Get me a Little of this, or that” and so on. The poor thing eats enough to supply the needs of a hardworking man, and lingers on in excruciating torments while her enfeebled system tries to rid itself of the poisonous accumulating filth. Another neighbor of mine, also an aged woman, passed out the other day. This was a similar case. She, also, was “a great sufferer.” For weeks before she died her continuous groans and screams were heard by the neighbors; she ate three or four meals during the day, and was also fed at four o'clock in the morning. She was a heavy woman; she could have lived through the entire period of her sickness without food and had she done so she would have lost less in weight, for her system would have been spared the dreadful labor of eliminating unused food; and not only would she have lost less flesh but she would have had a painless illness, and an easy death. Most of the agonies of all kinds of sickness are due to feeding. Five years ago I was asked to advise a young man who was in the last stage of
tuberculosis, with the end very near at hand. Surrounded by loving friends, who, unable to think of any other way to show their sympathy, were continually forcing food upon him, he was coughing his life away, and suffering severely in the struggle of his feeble body to eliminate the filth. I said to him: “My boy, if you want to spend your remaining days in peace and comfort, do not eat except when you are decidedly and unmistakably hungry,” and I gave his family a lecture on the difference between selfish and unselfish love. That young man never ate another mouthful of food. In a few days his coughing and expectorating ceased; he slept well, and was free from pain; he became bright and cheerful, and four weeks later, he fell asleep, like a little child. In my last illness, may I be delivered from the love that feeds! And that is about all, dearly beloved. Most of the suffering in sickness is caused by feeding the sick. Oh, I know! You don't believe any such stuff! But you try it, and see. When you are sick, stop eating. Do not think about eating; do not talk about eating; ask your friends to kindly refrain from talking about eating; and wait until you are sure you are hungry; and then wait a few hours to make sure you are sure; and then eat enough to satisfy your hunger, and then wait again. And if you are getting along in years, and especially if you have quit work, remember that it takes only a very little raw material to maintain the body of an old person who does not work. Find out the least quantity of food upon which you can live and keep up your weight, and live on that. If you can live on one bunch of grapes, or half an egg a day, and be well and free from aches and pains, and also be bright and happy, is not that better than to eat forty bunches of grapes or a couple of dozen eggs, and be a wretched, suffering invalid, a burden to yourself and a trial to your friends? And, by the way, this applies as well to you who are not growing old; find out the smallest quantity of food upon which you can live and work without losing weight; and live on it!