“Life is just a simple game between up and down” (E. Kusturica)

Recently I heard a song by Emir Kusturica titled “Upside down”. It brought some thoughts to mind.

Highlight from the lyrics:
“Life is just a simple game between up and down…What is down should go up. What is up must go down”.

In other words (not a literal translation but rather an interpretation) it means:
Life is a simple game between up and down… Those who are down may rise. Those who are up can only go down.

What am I getting at?

On my blog I deal with the relationship between health and illness. It is clearly no coincidence that this song brought related thoughts to mind.

For me, UP (FENT) represents the presence of health and material well-being. DOWN (LENT) denotes illness and deprivation.

In my experience, however, the UP situation induces a kind of "intentional blindness." Those who are healthy and have a good job and salary behave as if everything will remain this way forever, as if they could not lose these things even in an instant. They do not protect their health; on the contrary, they intentionally damage it, for example with smoking, harmful addictions, lack of exercise, or poor nutrition. They commit a serious "assault" against themselves.

From UP there is ONLY a way: DOWN. Health (especially if not cared for) deteriorates. With this goes the loss of ability to work and quickly the material well-being is gone as well.

Once you fall into the DOWN state you must devote all reserves and energy to regaining health. There is no "guaranteed" way up. You can move upward, but it is conditional! The path leads through a lot of work and sacrifice and its costs are high. It is much more difficult to regain health than to maintain it (although maintaining it is not free of effort either).

Preserving health

Based on more than five decades of life experience, my advice is: when you are UP, that is, you have your health, do not forget that from here the only direction is down. However, by paying attention you can slow down the descent into the DOWN state and postpone it for a long time.

These can be your main helpers:

• regular physical activity. You don't have to train for the Olympics — you don't need to spend your whole day exercising. With 50–60 minutes daily of walking, Nordic walking, jogging, running, cycling, swimming, yoga, etc., you can postpone for a long time the moment when your body stops functioning.
• healthy eating. This is not asceticism but avoiding substances proven to be harmful (many of which didn't even exist 50–70 years ago). The greatest harm is caused by refined sugar, products made with white flour, cured meats, and industrially produced meats (packed with antibiotics and hormones).
• stress management. Stress is one of the harshest disease-causing agents. You may not even notice it, but constant tension "gnaws" at you from the inside and destroys. If you are living under stress, try to get out of it as soon as possible.

Unexpected events can happen, for example accidents, which you obviously cannot avoid by diet. However, you can avoid what is avoidable.

You cannot preserve health with "campaigns." In other words, after a major binge of drinking and overeating, fasting for three days is pointless. The January "I'll stop eating now and lose weight" resolution doesn't help either. You can only endure self-denial for weeks, and prolonged starvation is not healthy.

You can preserve your health only through daily, conscious lifestyle management. And this is not easy…

But when you look back at the end of a long and healthy life, you'll realize: it was worth it.