Better Health and a Plan to Achieve It: The Dawning of a New Day and a New You

By Hugh H. Bassham

Get fit fast! Six pack abs in two weeks! Find happiness now! Weve heard the hype. Weve watched the infomercials. We all want to believe there is an easy fix-it plan for that extra flab and those seasonal blues. Yet, with all the books we buy and gimmicks we fall for, do we ever reach actual health? Do we ever find the secret to stopping the worry? Or are we missing a piece of this puzzle?

Dr. Hugh Basshams Better Health and a Plan to Achieve It is the inspired compilation of his 1993 book, The Search for Total Health, and his 2007 booklet, A Plan for Better Health. Basshams insight bridges the gap between physical and spiritual equilibrium. It takes a look at how our physical health affects our spiritual well-being and what the Bible says about our fitness, as well as our joy.

Basshams analysis is simple and direct, intended to inform and inspire any follower of Christ, or anyone who is looking to improve upon the internal as well as external. There is no hype. There are no overpowering claims or promises. Better Health and a Plan to Achieve It shows that physical and spiritual health are linked, and how, with better understanding, more awareness, and a proven plan to follow we can achieve better health.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 3, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490898421

Hugh H. Bassham

Hugh H. Bassham, DVM, has conducted nutritional research, co-authored papers on the subject, and spoken at various meetings, including international conventions. He is a graduate of Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine. Bassham served in the US Army as a military veterinarian and as an instructor at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine. His experience working with God’s creatures both great and small taught him not only about animal health, but also about human health.

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Copyright © 2015 Hugh H. Bassham.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-9841-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-9842-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015917484

WestBow Press rev. date: 10/15/2015

Contents

Introduction

Acknowledgement:

Part 1 The Search For Total Health

Foreword

Chapter 1 Total Human Health

Chapter 2 The Nourishment of the Outward Man

Chapter 3 The Nourishment of the Inward Man

Chapter 4 The Nourishment of Animals and Plants

Chapter 5 The Mission

Part 2 A Plan for Better Health

Introduction

The Parable of the 3-Legged Stool

The Plan

Epilogue

Post Script

To my grandson,

Matthew

Introduction

As a veterinarian, I have learned much from the animals I worked with. And the more I learned from them, the more I realized I could apply this knowledge to people. Eventually, as I felt more and more accountable for what I had learned, I wrote a book, The Search for Total Health, which was published in 1993.

Knowledge and understanding is one thing, but applying that knowledge and understanding is another. So in 2007 I wrote a booklet, A Plan for Better Health, hoping it would help, not only with understanding, but with applying this understanding in a practical and useful way.

Now, in 2010, I have combined these two works, the book and the booklet, under a new title, Better Health and a Plan to Achieve It. It is my hope that this book will help us all understand, and achieve, better health.

Hugh H. Bassham

Quitman, Georgia

September 24, 2009

Acknowledgement:

This book is a reality because of the counsel and support of many friends. I thank you all.

I would also like to thank CrossBooks Publishing and the CrossBooks Team for all they have done, and for going the extra mile.

Part One

The Search For Total Health

Foreword

M odern man is searching for many things: financial security, comfort, happiness, freedom from anxiety, world peace, and even good health. But is he searching for total health? Is he even interested in it? Does he even know what constitutes total health?

How is it that a well-conditioned athlete at the zenith of his physical capabilities takes a gun and kills himself? Most would say that he was in excellent health, but I would say that he had not achieved total health. How is it that a prayerful, deeply committed minister of the gospel suddenly drops dead from a heart attack at age forty? Most would say that his spiritual health was superb, but I would say that he had not achieved total health.

The athlete thought he could condition his body while ignoring the condition of his soul. The minister thought that he could care for his soul while ignoring his physical conditioning. Both were wrong. Both fell short of the ultimate abundance of life that was available to them. Both should have been concerned about their outward and inward conditions. Both should have been searching for a state of total health.

The search for total health begins with a humble heart and an open mind. But this is not always easy, especially when it comes to accepting and acting upon ideas that are new and perhaps controversial. But let us remember that over the course of history, new and different ideas have rarely been embraced quickly by the masses. Nevertheless, to progress as individuals and as a society, we must be willing to consider new and different ideas, remembering that all ideas were at one time new and different.

To get the most out of this book, it must be read with a thoughtful and inquiring mind. It is the author’s intention to not only present some interesting and useful ideas, but also to inspire the reader to an attitude of pondering and questioning, thereby provoking a search for much more than this modest book proposes to communicate.

This book is only intended as a beginning. Its purpose is to provide a foundation upon which a person can build with confidence. The Bible says that a wise man builds on a solid foundation. I have done my utmost to construct this foundation to be solid.

By being short, this book can easily be read and reread. It can be pondered until the principles it presents become ingrained in the reader’s mind. Through thoughtful, even prayerful consideration, I believe understanding can be acquired. This understanding, when followed by determined, decisive action, will help us reach the goal that I believe we should all be searching for: total health.

Chapter 1

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