Destiny Survival

            “You boys need anything else?” Tina asked, pad in hand.  It was another morning at the café 23 for Survival Sam, Duane and me.

            “Just make sure to keep my water glass topped off,” I said.  The others nodded that they didn’t need anything else.

            “You’re one of the few people who comes in here who just drinks water with your meal,” said Tina.  “Did you hear about the study that said none of us needs to drink 8 glasses of water each day?  I mean, don’t get me wrong, you can drink all the water you like.  I won’t stop you.”

            “Next thing you know, they’ll be telling us water’s bad for us,” Duane said.

            “They sure can’t seem to make up their minds, can they?” Tina pulled at her dark blue blouse apparently to straighten out a wrinkle.  “I’ll leave you boys alone.  Just holler if you need anything else…And I’ll be sure to keep that water full.”  She headed for another table.

            “So what do you make of that study, Sam?” I asked.

            Sam sighed as he put down his coffee cup.  “It’stypical.  My first reaction is to tell you not to trust the liars.”

            “What do you mean?” Duane asked.

             “Conventional medicine often tells us the opposite of what’s true,” Sam said.  In this case, even the ancient Chinese knew water was like medicine to the body.  It’s absolutely essential.”

            “Nobody’s arguing that water’s not essential, are they?” Duane said.  “They’re just saying we don’t need as much.”

            “Sure,” Sam said, “but they’re giving license or permission to continue our normal way of abusing our bodies by mistreating them.  They’re saying everything’s OK.  Don’t change your lifestyle.  I can’t help but wonder which mega soft drink corporation helped fund the study.  Or maybe someone is priming the masses to drink less water because there won’t be much to drink in the coming concentration camps anyway.”

            Duane flinched a little.  “Who’s going to change their lifestyle these days?”

            “A few wise souls will when they develop a major illness,” Sam said.  “Each of us should be more aware of what our bodies are trying to tell us so we can avoid problems down the road.  If you listen to your body and the signals it sends you, you’ll drink more water, not less.  For example, the next time you feel like snacking, drink a glass of water.  See if it doesn’t fill you a little and diminish the cravings.”

            “I’ve heard it’s a good idea to drink some water before you go out for a meal,” I said.  “Supposedly it cuts your appetite.”

            “True enough,” said Sam.  “It’s also better to drink water rather than tea, soda pop, or coffee.  Water doesn’t have caffeine or sugar.  And forget about drinking flavored water, too.”

            “I know a girl at work who drinks it all the time,” said Duane.  “She says plain water is boring, since it doesn’t have any taste.”

            “If you drink water, you can taste foods much better,” Sam said.  “In truth, our bodies need more fluids in the form of water than what we get.  Water makes up a large portion of the cells in our bodies.  They need water, not the sugar, caffeine, colorings, and the rest of what we drink these days.  A person who’s diabetic needs water to flush out their system, not some sugary soda.  Diet soda is no substitute for the regular soda either.  I won’t even begin to get into the dangers of aspartame in that stuff.”

            “So you’re saying not to pay attention to this latest study?” asked duane.

            “Exactly,” Sam said.  “It may sound strange at first, but this is related to the survival attitude or mentality we’ve discussed before.  Be discerning.  Recognize when the so-called conventional wisdom is wrong and don’t conform to it.  Drink your water anyway.”

            I did just that an emptied my glass.