don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

As an undergraduate at George Washington University in the early 60's, I had a hero, and my hero was the president of the United States. I admired JFK for his wisdom, eloquence and style. I even admired him for a few irrational reasons, including the fact that we were both presidents at the same time. At the start of 1961, I was living only three blocks from the White House. At that time, I was president, also. I was president of the Student Council at GW. OK, so maybe being student body president was no big deal in the grand or even little scheme of things, but I had this fantastical notion that JFK and I had something important in common. No, I did not have an Army, Navy or Air Force, a jet plane or a band to strike up "Hail to the Chief" when I arrived at school each day, but we did share a cool job title - president! (Look - I've already admitted this was not my most rational notion but it was a good motivator to do my best, to be Kennedyesque in discharging my duties.)

A half-century has passed since those halcyon days of youthful imagination, as well as idealism, vigor and all that. Kennedy died tragically, in a sudden and tragic fashion that brought much grief. I still experience stirrings of old sorrows when I see footage of the funeral and the related memories of 22 November 1963. I have not cared much for any president since, but I have deeply loathed at least two of them (Nixon and the current occupant, whose name I can't even bear to type). I still miss JFK.

Now I find myself a promoter of healthy lifestyles, an enthusiast for a concept called wellness. This is a philosophy that champions personal responsibility, physical fitness, reason, freedom and many of the ideas that Kennedy embraced and promoted in the public policy arena so long ago. I'd like to honor the memory of my hero by recalling the brilliant and magnificent inaugural address JFK delivered on that bitter cold Friday morning of January 20, 1961. (I was freezing, too, a part of the citizenry assembled at the foot of the East Front of the Capitol Building.) In doing so, I have taken the liberty not to change JFK's words, which would be a loathsome impertinence, but rather to extract a few of the near-immortal phrases in order to celebrate the wellness concept.

I'd like to think that this is somewhat the kind of talk JFK might deliver at the National Wellness Conference, if supernatural things ever happened, which I believe never do, never have and never will. Still, if we can pretend, just for fun, to believe something that is impossible, implausible and improbable, and everyone who takes any religion seriously is an absolute master at doing all such things in dozens of ways everyday, than we can easily pretend that JFK has elected to return for a guest appearance in order to keynote the NWC! Far better to pretend that John F. Kennedy would do such a thing than to actually endure a contemporary politician like Mike Huckabee who wants to be president but no more resembles JFK that did Dan Quayle. But, enough of that -- this is a tribute to JFK and his glorious inaugural address, not a lament about the sorry state of affairs wherein three Republican candidates for JFK's old job are proud to proclaim that they do not believe in evolution. A pity these three medieval "moderns" are not running for MY old job of president, not President Kennedy's. Even I couldn't ruin the student council president's job, but if Huckabee or one of the other three did, it wouldn't have serious consequences, unlike the dangers of having one of these bozos in the real presidency.

In this imaginary keynote, I envision the late president urging his fellow citizens gathered at the 32nd National Wellness Conference to look after themselves, to pursue excellence and to embrace and advance wellness values. By doing so, we would better serve the common good and our own best interests. Of course, it's hard to resist just leaving the speech as it is, that is, as delivered by JFK 46 years ago, so most of what follows is just that, that is, the original, untouched. Enjoy.

My fellow citizens, we observe this week a celebration of wellness, which invites a rededication to protecting the freedoms that make wellness possible, including freedoms to choose what and how to think, behave and live. These freedoms are guaranteed by constitutional freedoms of religion, assembly, press, petition and speech. Never take such choices lightly.

The world is very different now from the time of our forbears centuries ago. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe. 

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. In promoting healthy lifestyles, we do what we must to help all the people. United, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do - for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.

This much we pledge -- and more.

We shall not always expect to find everyone supporting our views. But we shall always hope to find others strongly supporting their own freedoms.

So let us begin anew -- remembering that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.

Let us explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.

Let both seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths and encourage the arts and commerce.

And, if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let us join in creating a new endeavor -- where the strong are just, and the weak secure, and the peace preserved.

All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days after this wellness conference nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days. It certainly will not happen in the waning years of the sorry Administration you have now. Perhaps it won't happen in your lifetime on this planet. But please begin.

In your hands, my fellow citizens, not mine, will rest the success or failure of your course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty.

Now the trumpet summons again -- a call to bear a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation, a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.

Can you forge against these enemies a grand alliance that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. You must not shrink from this responsibility - you should welcome it, as I tried to do. I do not believe that any of you would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the devotion which you bring to this endeavor must, rhetorically speaking, light our country and all who live here. May the glow from that fire light the world, so to speak.

And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your doctor can do for you; ask what you can do for your own well-being.

My fellow citizens, ask not what the health care system will do for you, but what together we can do to stay well in the first place. And, of course, for the freedom of men and women everywhere.

Finally, whether you are citizens of this country or visiting the conference from other lands, let us pursue the same high standards of strength and sacrifice. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, praying to the gods if we choose but knowing that here on earth and beyond, any god's work must truly be our own.

Be well and look on the bright side of life.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the MENTAL DOMAIN under the skill area of emotional intelligence. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

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