Why Idleness is a More Dangerous Social Mindset Today

Technology is good but it's been abused to promote a sedentary lifestyle. The TV remote, for one, gave way to the couch potato lifestyle which provided leeway to a host of deadly illnesses. Just recently, I saw overweight kids driving electric ride-on toy cars as they roamed the mall. What little exercise they'd get from walking was forfeited by misusing technology.

Photo above by elizabeth lies on Unsplash.

No wonder the spate of juvenile diabetes today. And the skyrocketing number of folks suffering from heart diseases, diabetes, kidney failure and fatty liver. It's unusual to find someone like me free from taking any maintenance meds because high sugar and BP counts are deemed "normal" today. You'd be the odd one if you have normal counts. And why this new unhealthy normal? Most experts blame idleness second to poor eating.

Deadly Convenience

Another is the electric stand-on scooter. Ever seen it? It helps avoid heavy traffic especially during rush hours while you simply stand on it relaxed, quickly taking you to places. You don't have to sweat it out, unlike pedalled bikes. But that's exactly the point. It keeps you from walking or exerting physically. You just stand there idle as you travel to and from places. It's convenient but it's deadly (not to mention being prone to accidents).

At least commuting makes you walk, run after vehicles, climb up foot bridges or climb up and down buses or jeepneys. That's better than nothing, though never enough. Health experts say we need intentional physical workouts, aside from healthy eating, and commuting isn't really the workout our bodies need. We need healthy breathing environs with workouts. 

Thus, even if you get the hustles of commuting to work, you need to set aside a workout sched regularly which allows you to, well, really workout. 

Why Idleness is More Dangerous Today

Compared to, say, some 60 years ago (the 1960s for instance), our planet is doubly or triply polluted today and foods have more chemicals. GMO products flood the market and everything is flavored with too much sugar. I mean everything. Well, except eggs (thank God) as long as they come from poultry farms free of GMO feeds. 

Because overstress is a pandemic today, more people seek relief from junk foods overladen with sugar, transfats and preservatives (not to mention aspartame and other artificial sweeteners in foods advertised as "zero-sugar")---and online food delivery gives us easier access to them. We get them anytime we want, fast! 

And then you just stay idle there, letting all that kill you softly.

When God Sees You Idle

God knows how bad idleness is, being the Author of our bodies and health. So he gives a stern warning about carelessness with health just to dissuade us from developing unhealthy habits. Remember, his judgments are designed to spare us from further troubles. 

It was good for me to be afflicted

so that I might learn your decrees.. [Psalm 119.71]

And here's the stern warning: our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Anything we do to destroy God's temple (our physical bodies) will get an equivalent destruction. Simply put, if you live a destructive lifestyle, God will destroy you even more. 

If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

[1 Corinthians 3]

If we keep on with idleness, we destroy our body, which is God's temple. In which case, God further destroys us. Imagine being so active in church and faithful with your tithes and offering and being prayerful and all that, but then you have an idle and unhealthy lifestyle. You eat all the bad foods and stay inactive all day, everyday. God will destroy you. And it's nonsense to claim a relationship with God when he's in fact destroying you. 😐

Avoid Sedentary

Here are things to watch out for:

1. Make sure you move around each hour, especially if your work confines you to your desk. I jog in place, do some squats and lift dumbbells now and then as I blog. Go out and walk around the block or simply walk around the house.
2. Aside from moving around each hour, schedule regular workouts.
3. Develop fondness for taking the stairs than escalators or elevators for the first 2 or 3 floor levels in malls.
4. Reduce the number of times you eat. Eat less, move more. I eat once or one and a half times a day. Intermittent fasting does a lot of health wonders, like burning fats and declogging your body systems.
5. Greatly minimize your sugar and carbs intake. Better if it's zero sugar and low carbs.