Letter sent to President Obama

Now that I am an octogenarian who have acquired a wisdom dividend which comes to some peope with age I want to share with you one thing I have learned that may benefit you healthwise. This one thing is about the role of equanimity in good health.

Equanimity is the key to good health. It is effective in minimizing and combating stress. Certainly, being President of the United States can be stressful.

Webster's Dictionary defines equanimity as "evenness of mind especially under stress, a right disposition and balance." In the vernacular of ordinary people, like myself, it means being cool or calm, even in the midst of unpleasant circumstances. Apparently, Kipling had eqanimity in mind when he said,

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same ....
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!"

I have obtained wisdom to know that giving advice is not my forte, however, I feel emboldened to do so sparsely. So here is my advice for you Mr. President: above all else that you do practice equanimity, better still allow equanimity to direct your actions. I have also discovered that possessing equanimity is the best way to acquire or maintain optimum health. Across the years I have observed more than a few people who had good intentions and a strong desire to do good self-destruct, become debilitated or experience premature demise because they did not embrace equanimity. Embracing equanimity means taking responsibility for oneself and refusing to respond to accusations made by pundits, naysayers and demagogues such as those from the Speaker of the House who declared that "his most important job is to see to it that you are a one-term president," and from America's loudmouth radio-demagogue-broadcaster who repeatedly announces that "he wants you to fail as president." Emrbacing equaimity means being one's own best friend which is the best way to be a friend to one's family, for you your wife and two daughters, others and America.

I am aware that there are no guarantees and I am also aware that most often a person's behavior determines his state of well-being or the lack thereof. Even when we attribute destructiveness that we called "acts of God," as if God's intervention is limited to such occurrences as Hurricane Katrina we fail to recognize that it was not that Hurricane that brought destruction to New Orleans and death to more than a thousand people, but man-made levies that gave citizens of New Orfleans the false impression that they were safe even if faced with a hurricane.

President Obama, I invite you to take a clue or a page from former President Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States who is now 86 year of age. He has maintained good health and longevity many years after his presidency. His disposition reveals that his good health is attributed to his embracing equanimity. It seems appropriate here to paraphase a question Jesus asked, "What does it profit a man if he becomes president and loses his health because he refused to make it a priority?"

Addressing early Church Christians Apostle John writes:
Beloved I wish above all things that you may prosper and be of good health. (3 Jn. 2).

It is obvious that for John good health was a priority. Although equanimity offers many benefits none exceeds good health. Many wealthy people have desired to give all their wealth in exchange for good health. Some did but were unable to regain good health.

Mr. President, however memory brings back this moment to your mind let it be said that it was a time when you embraced equanimity and maintained good health. Equanimity is a spiritaul gift that can be nurtured with prayer, meditation and contemplation. In quid-pro-quo exchange equanimity nourishes the body, mind and soul.

Mr. Obama, I am glad that you are my president. My closing message for you is the same as Apostle John's to his beloved Christians, "I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in good health."

Take care of yourself, That is the most important thing that you can do for yourself, Be your own best friend. Do not let the desires of your heart, the dictates of others, or default, deny you the good that is rightly yours. Take care of yourself, be positive, follow your heart and enjoy life. You are precious and the epitome of beauty.

Signed: Uriah J. Fields
August 6, 2011

(Electronic mail, August 8, 2011)