hale & hearty

there's plenty of literature about ailments,misery, mental imbalance and such and i thought it'd be nice to start a thread about vigor, physical health and mental clarity.

the best example i can think of is levin, an aristocrat, rolling up his sleeves and working up a sweat in lev tolstoy's anna karenin. i think this passage should be required reading for every stay-at-home, hypochondriac and cry baby who refuses to grow up.

tolstoy knew that it was only a matter of time ere the gross excesses of art, culture and civilization would render the state a corrupt, self-serving entity destined to collapse like a house of cards. he set an example to prevent this but alas to no avail.

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Originally Posted by chasestalling

there's plenty of literature about ailments,misery, mental imbalance and such and i thought it'd be nice to start a thread about vigor, physical health and mental clarity.

the best example i can think of is levin, an aristocrat, rolling up his sleeves and working up a sweat in lev tolstoy's anna karenin. i think this passage should be required reading for every stay-at-home, hypochondriac and cry baby who refuses to grow up.

tolstoy knew that it was only a matter of time ere the gross excesses of art, culture and civilization would render the state a corrupt, self-serving entity destined to collapse like a house of cards. he set an example to prevent this but alas to no avail.

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hum....well, when I was a "stay-at-home" I did all the house work, took care of the kids, did three loads of laundry a day and my washer and dryer were in the basement, kids rooms were upstairs(that two flights times three per load) I did all the yard work, home decorating/remodling, driving of the kids to school, from school, to ball pratice, ballet, parties, sleepovers, etc. I hosted all birthday parties, sleepover, all cooking and dishes afterwards, and I was a Brownie Troop leader and Room Mother. I stay pertty hale and hearty back then. Now I work 12 hours a night lifting heavy freight and stocking shelves, supervising 20-30 other workers, paperwork, schedules, customer calls, etc. I'm not in as good a shape as I was when I was home. Of course, we could contribute it to age I guess.

my resume pales by comparison granny5, and i refuse to justify my good health and mental acumen with a plausible account of my blessings. if i'm a thief than so be it.

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Originally Posted by chasestalling

my resume pales by comparison granny5, and i refuse to justify my good health and mental acumen with a plausible account of my blessings. if i'm a thief than so be it.

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You did notice that I didn't mention my mental health! (can't blame that one on age.)

ok granny5, so tell me, what makes u think i've got the answers u seek?

c'mon people, i know we can do better than this.

some examples of vigor and mental clarity in the world of literature.

please (with some sugar on top).

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Originally Posted by chasestalling

there's plenty of literature about ailments,misery, mental imbalance and such and i thought it'd be nice to start a thread about vigor, physical health and mental clarity.

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The best examples that I can think of are the Flashman series by George McDonald Fraser. Flashman remained hale and hearty in his eighties, and was still doing interesting things well into his sixties. I have created some characters who remain hale and hearty into even more ancient ages.

Levin walked between them. In the heat of the day the mowing did not seem such hard work to him. The perspiration in which he was drenched cooled him, and the sun, which burned his back, his head, and his arm bare to the elbow, gave strength and added perseverance to his labor; and more and more often now came those moments of insensibility when it was possible not to think about what one was doing. The scythe cut of itself. Those were happy moments. More joyous still were the moments when they reached the river at the end of the swaths and the old man wiped his scythe with a handful of wet grass, rinsed its blade in the fresh water of the stream, scooped up some water in his whetstone box, and offered it to Levin.

from tolstoy's anna karenin as translated by david magarshack, signet classic: publisher, 1961