HEALTH PROBLEMS: Beyond the obvious
disruptions illness provoke, medical attention costs so much that even modest treatment
can oblige us to work a very long time at jobs we may not enjoy that much just to pay
the bills. Therefore, take care of your
body.
PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS: If one is
hung up, for example, on blaming others for a bad situation, or is too depressed to work
for changes in life, or can't think clearly for one reason or another, then the mind finds
it harder to think pleasing thoughts. Therefore, do what you must to clear your mind.
ADDICTIONS: Addictions keep us from
enjoying life if only because they cost so much, causing us to have to work long hours to
pay for them. Addictions also inevitably affect our health and cloud our minds. Therefore,
overcome your addictions.
BEING TOO SUGGESTIBLE: Our
consumption-oriented society constantly urges us to buy new things that we don't really
need. Friends and family require us to live in ways in which we don't believe. Our
conservative religious and political institutions demand that we behave in ways
appropriate for earlier times, not ours. Therefore, to get the most out of being a student
of nature you must think for yourself,
and do as you truly believe.