Water part II

I once spent a little time in the desert outside of San Diego. For hours I wandered around in the sun, grokking at the worn signs of water's presence on the ground, uncovering different rocks and minerals in enticing patterns. While I could tell that water had flowed there at some point in the past, it clearly hadn't recently.

My wanderings eventually led me to one of the only rock outcroppings in sight. I slowly clambered up to the top of this massive thirty foot tall chunk of granite. There, right at the very top of the rock, at the exact highest point on the rock, I found a small, fist size cavity in the white granite. And in this tiny space was a cup of water, miraculously preserved (I felt that it had been placed there for me at that very moment, but I now know that I am far too inconsequential for that to be true).

That moment has stayed with me more than almost any other memory from my road travelling days. In fact, looking back, many of the memories I have are associated with water.

There was that one time I had hitchhiked across the water south of Key West to Christmas Tree Island, one of the only places where a person could just sit and not be hurried on by people who owned the land or were in control of it through whatever office they held. The only factor influencing how long you could stay was the amount of water you brought with you.

There was this other time when my sister and I enjoyed a cheap box of wine together and danced on the road paint in the middle of the night parked on the side of a small country road. The next morning I didn't trust myself to interact civily until we had found some water and replenished our internal and external supplies. Another time I remember spending hours waiting in the rain in southern Florida, hoping someone would pick up a drenched hitchhiker on the side of the road.

Water plays such a vital role. I've always felt that if I could buy stock in water supplies, it would make me rich as I grow older.

Even in my current job as the PR guy for King Bio, water plays a vital role. Dr. King uses a specially treated water when he develops his homeopathic remedies for King Bio. It's not just purified. Somehow, the water he uses in his homeopathic production has been distilled and purified to such a degree that the remedies become more effective at recreating the positive environment needed for optimum health. It doesn't surprise me that one of his biggest selling points with his contemporary homeopathic remedies is that they are water based. Most remedies are sugar or alcohol based. For those individuals sensitive to these compounds, King Bio's remedies are heaven sent.

So, to echo last night's posting, take the water experiment. Start your day with a couple glasses of water (I prefer chilled water in the summer and tap water in the winter.) Drink a glass before each meal, during each meal, and after each meal. Substitute sparkling water for an alcoholic drink in the evening. Have a big glass before going to bed. (People interested in journaling about their dreams have been directed to drink extra water before bedtime. This way when they have to get up to use the restroom, they will be able to remember their dreams. It's hard to recall your dreams if you sleep through them.)

A coworker recently relayed to me the story of his extreme dehyrdation. This is a tough little guy who never drinks water. Never! He told me how he had been working hard all morning and half the afternoon at the school, replacing a water fountain, ironically enough. About 4:00 that afternoon he started getting knife-like pains in his lower back. They continued all evening. No medicine was even touching the pain. He eventually called his doc who recommended he go to the ER. The ER docs worked up the sonograms or whatever they used to look inside his body, and they saw that his kidneys had actually shrunken up! They told him that he had reached such a level of dehydration that his kidneys were in danger of failing. Needless to say they got him on an IV drip and pumped him full of juices. He avoided the narcotic pain killers and was in pain for over four days! Eventually things settled back down.

Don't let your kidneys shrink! Be a whole person, deeply hydrated and fully functional! I think it will change your life, this water consumption. And once you see the difference being hydrated makes, you'll never go back. You'll be one of those people you see always carrying around their Nalgene water bottles or buying the cases of bottled water so they always have a portable supply. And now you'll understand why!

As always, be well my friends.
And most of all... drink that water!