Disease

Disease

Everybody knows what a disease is – right? I always thought that when

somebody said the word “disease” they meant something like cancer, diabetes or

something along those lines. I have to admit that I was in my forties before I

found out what the word “disease” really meant and I learned it in college in a

medical terminology course. Even Webster’s has the proper definition. Let’s

look:

1

obsolete : TROUBLE

2

parts that impairs normal functioning : SICKNESS, MALADY

: a condition of the living animal or plant body or of one of its

3

: a harmful development (as in a social institution)

So there you have it. The word “disease” is really two words: “dis” meaning not

and “ease” meaning the state of being comfortable or to be free of pain or

discomfort. So you can see that anything that makes us uncomfortable or not at

ease is really a disease. It could be the lack of finances, embarrassment or

difficulty with a spouse, child, friend, parent or whoever. It could also be a

sickness such as cancer. You might not have a sickness like cancer but, you might

still have a disease.

You might be thinking that this is a silly point I’m making, but I don’t think

so or I wouldn’t be bringing it up. This is something that I do believe: that there is

a cure for all disease, both sickness and discomfort alike. One only has to be

willing to find it because, for the most part, people make a living off of other

people’s diseases so there’s an interest in maintaining the status quo.