Soapbox Spiel

I just got home from work and I have a message that I want to put out into the world. Everyone knows that we have to treat our bodies with respect by feeding it well, staying hydrated, exercising and getting enough sleep. This knowledge is as common as knowing that the sky is blue and that water runs downhill (except for that creek in BC where it appears to run uphill and I am perplexed every time I drive by it). What I want to talk about, well, what I want to plea about is for all people to please take care of yourselves for the sake of the penis. Yep, you read that correctly; the penis.

Everywhere you look these days you are bombarded by the words "erectile dysfunction" and most people laugh it off, but it's really serious and can be an extremely frustrating and heart-breaking situation. Things like diabetes, stroke, heart disease, sleeping pills/sedatives, high blood pressure and high cholesterol can all contribute to the little man to remain limp. Today I met a man who is a diabetic who was quite desperate to find something that would help him to be able to get an erection. He had already tried Viagra and a few other things, and that didn't work for him. All I could think about was that he was a very overweight smoker, and all I wanted to say was "well, maybe if you lost a few pounds and got off the cancer sticks you would be able to increase blood flow and perhaps get an proper erection". Of course I could never say this, but it's what we all think and are unable to say. But I really felt for this man because I could sense the frustration in his voice and the underlying defeat in his body language. By the time we went our separate ways my heart was saddened for him. Imagine if you or your partner couldn't get it up no matter what he tried and no matter how much he wanted to. Think of the feeling of helplessness that you would feel.

If we could just take better care of ourselves, not only would we feel so much more incredible, both physically and mentally, we would be able to fight off these horrible diseases that are making our lives miserable. Our culture is full of people who are popping pills for problems that may be able to be helped with ways other than the pharmaceutical route. I guess I just want people to be happy and healthy. It would be such a relief to have disease rates decrease for once instead of hearing story after story about cancer and heart attack victims. Life's too short to be sick.

I'll get off my soapbox now and retreat into the depths of homework. Just think of my message. Take care of the body, take care of the penis.