Resting well heals your body and makes you look and feel good, too. We talked about this last week and I hope you got some good, long sleep. Did you? If you didn’t, try to do so tonight. And I want you to add another basic practice to your healthy quest repertoire that will also heal your body and make you look and feel good, too.

#2 Drink More Water

I know you have heard it before, but are you drinking more? And if you are drinking more, is it enough for YOUR body? I ask this because of these amazing statements I’ve heard over the years:

1. Most Americans are dehydrated and don’t even know it.

1. People are more toxic than they should be.

Dehydration and toxicity were two of my main issues, making my skin and digestive system really suffer. I can always tell when I haven’t had enough water: Pimples pop out seemingly out of nowhere and the food I’ve eaten doesn’t flow as freely through my system. Water helps to flush out waste, moisturize skin, hair and nails, lubricate joints and eyes and a bunch of other functions we take for granted or that haven’t even occurred to us. When we don’t have enough water to flush out the junk through our digestive system, some of the junk remains and some seeks to escape through our skin, the largest body organ. With our bodies being composed mostly of water and us losing about 10-12 eight ounce cups of water daily from our normal activities, we have to replenish our supply so we don’t get dehydrated. Dehydration can also cause memory loss. Lack of lubrication can cause us to shrivel up on the outside and the inside then what good can we be when we’re supposed to be grapes and not raisins?

We have heard that the average person (whatever that means) should drink at least eight eight-ounce glasses of water each day. I haven’t found a modern health professional that can say where this formulation came from and why we should follow it. I also heard that daily we should drink half our body weight in ounces (e.g., if you weigh 140 lbs then you should drink 70 ounces). When I follow this plan (drinking purified water) and a add a few ounces on top of that, I find I have less problems with my skin and my digestive system is free flowing.

Then the LORD replied to me, “If racing against mere men makes you tired, how will you race against horses? If you stumble and fall on open ground, what will you do in the thickets near the Jordan?”—Jeremiah 12:5 (NLT)

The Lord was asking Jeremiah how he would be able to deal with more troublesome people if he was having problems dealing with people on a small level. This is why I’m challenging us to rest well and drink more water, two very basic practices for good health. How can we go on to more intense health practices if we may be struggling with these basics? We have to start here. It’s not enough for us to possess information if we don’t put the information to use. Having water with us is not enough. We have to open that bottle and swallow it up to be (or continue) on our way to better health.

Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith