I am sure that someone has already coined the words – Spiritual Deficiency Syndrome.  A healthy spirit will definitely lead you to a healthy body.  We are what we believe.  If your ‘spirit’ is down, then wellness can be stolen from your body because every cell responds to your mood.  Belief is an extremely important part of living a healthy life and having a healthy body.  The spirit or some call it heart is about living at high vibration levels and knowing who you are and where you are going.

A loss of spirit has many names.  A general state of anxiety, sadness, anger, depression, and finally despair are the general descriptions.  Anxiety Disorder, Anger Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Broken Heart Syndrome, Mood Disorder, Intermittent Explosive Disorder, Generalized Malaise, Fibromyalgia, Obesity, Broken Heart Syndrome, Back Pain, Generalized Pain, Depression, ADHD, Eating Disorder, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder are some labels that typically get attached.  But wait, you say that I have mixed physical ailments with mental health issues.  That is exactly the point.  Sometimes it is very difficult to tell how the loss of spirit will manifest.  Whether it is given the label of a mental disorder or a physical illness, loss of spirit is a very serious issue.

How we feel, think, act and perceive are very important to our well being.  Life is filled with chaotic events that can be stimulating, exciting, and destructive all at the same time.  It is not whether the event will happen because that is life – stuff happens.  We can usually attach our feeling, thinking, acting, and perceiving when we suffer to some specific event or person.  However, it is not that it happened; it is not what that person did to us; it is how we react to the event.

I think Solomon describes it best in his quote from Proverbs 4:23 (NIV 1984) “Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.”  The more recent version of the NIV says “Above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it.”  Wellspring indicates an abundant source.  In many ancient writings we find lots of descriptions about seeing with the heart, hearing with the heart, and thinking with the heart.  I used to think that this was just beautiful language used to describe our spirit.  Now, I am not as sure as the heart is made of over seventy percent of neural cells that are just like the ones in our brain.  I think the definers of Broken Heart Syndrome had the same crisis of thought whether it was a physical ailment or a mental disorder.  In any case, it is important to follow the wisdom of Solomon, guard your heart.

This soundness of spirit can be described as:

• Understanding there is a being that is greater than us, God
• Joy or if you prefer, happiness
• Having gratitude and forgiveness
• Knowing who you are
• Knowing what you want
• Knowing how you are going to get there
• Having the character to maintain the course regardless of the chaos

Of course treatment in the failure of spirit has its best hope after prayer in having someone to share your mood and a willingness to hold you responsible to your actions.  A confidant who is willing to give you a good hug when you need it the most is a must.  This is a very difficult thing to find.  You usually don’t want to share your deepest feelings and you don’t want to burden someone else with your problems.  However, I believe that a good friend, spouse, advisor, or other willing party is much better than a paid professional.  I understand that finding this person is step four in the twelve step process.  However, if the disorder is deeply problematic, then a minister or psychologist is your best hope to start.

So you think that a discussion of spirit is out of place in a blog about vitamin D deficiency.  As a far as deficiencies go, this one should be taken care of first.  If not, then the rest of the issues get confounded and may never be resolved.   Above all else, guard your heart!  -Pandemic Survivor