A co-worker was discussing this platitude last week on the phone with a friend of hers. She said (sic), "I knew it before, but it really hit home when I was sick in the hospital last month. Really, if you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything." 
Of course my first recollection with the phrase is The Princess Bride when the old count says it to the Man in Black before sucking out 65 years of his life. The kind of thing that makes you laugh and by association, assume the phrase isn't any deeper than the movie.
I will step back for a second, though, to say that I have been sick, and I really hate it, and while I've never been longer than overnight in the hospital, I do feel severely incapacitated when I'm sick, so yeah, I get where the phrase comes from and have compassion for those out longer than I've ever been.
However, I also think it might be interesting to explore a little bit, take a second look at the phrase.
What does it mean to have something? In different languages, it means different things. For example, in English, we say I'm 34. But in French, I'd say I have 34 years. So you can have an age in French. You can have hunger in French, too; while in English, you're just hungry--it's what you are. In Spanish, more appropriately, they have two different kinds of being, so at least you don't have to be defined by your hunger. Phew! (actually I'm not as fluent in Spanish, so I don't know if you are hungry or have hunger. In any case, I wonder if that commercial for the 100 calorie bags works in other countries? You know the one--Hi, I'm starved. Hello, I'm regretting that huge bag of potato chips I just ate... etc.)
Well, my coworker was speaking in English, so we'll just stick with that I guess. What can you have in English? Well, I might have 35 cents in my pocket, right? I suppose I might still have that if I were sick in the hospital. Although, after my last few visits to la hopital, all my other pennies got munched by the insurance and medical bills. And when I've had to wait in the emergency room very long, I think my friend wanted some pennies for the vending machine. So much for that.
So there must be something else you can have. It's a pretty common word. How about a degree? You can have a degree. I have a degree. And in the hospital, I still have it. No, I didn't take my diploma with me. Silly. But I still had it. Even if someone sneaked into my room and stole the white envelope thing off my dresser, I could probably call the university and get another copy. That's something the doctors and insurance people can't take away. It's a done deal. Can't take it away.
On the other hand, if I actually died and had no health at all in that sense, would I still have a degree? Hm, I guess whoever inherited my stuff could have a copy of my degree, but they really couldn't say it was theirs. It kind of has my SSN attached to it and stuff. And since I think I'd have a hard time contacting the university from the other side to show proof if someone stole the white envelope from my dresser, I guess if I haven't got my health, I haven't got a degree. And well, as long as we're going that far, regardless of a friend and the vending machiens, I probably wouldn't even be able to claim that 35 cents in my pocket either. Maybe my coworker was right.
But! Oh I just thought of something. You can take your intelligence with you. Is that something you can have? Well, we do say "I'm smart." But you could say "I have an IQ." or "I have knowledge," so that works. And if it takes some people having a degree to get that intelligence, well, then I guess that's not such a bad thing. (When you're going to get knowledge, the degree is more of just this measure for the university so they know when to kick you out. So really, the intelligence is something that if the university burned down and lost your records, you could still have.)
Of course, when you're really sick and your stuck in bed and can't even read a book or open your eyes or think clearly, it might not seem to be doing you much good. And then there's those people who get alzheimers and dimentia, and though they've got it in there somewhere, it's really not doing them any good. So I guess it goes both ways--you've got it and you ain't.
But I'm pretty sure there's got to be something not so iffy. What else can you have? A family! Yes, we do say, "I have a family." I've got one too! And when I've been sick, I've still had a family. In fact, one of the times I was really sick and ended up having to go to the hospital, I actually spent more time on the phone with my family than usual. So you might say you've got more family when you haven't got your health. And since my family has been sealed in the temple, we'll still be together after none of us has any health, and in fact, we'll even be able to meet family members we were never able to meet when we had our health, so yeah, there again, more family. Now there's a little irony.
I think I need to add that sometimes good friends are like family, so while some people might not have very good "family" in the traditional sense, most people have at least one good friend. And in fact, I also believe that we'll be reunited with those people in the celestial kingdom, because as it says in one of the latter D&C sections, the same sociality that exists among us here will exist among us there.
So if people don't have good family or friends--or even if they do and they do nothing about trying to keep them, then I really do feel bad for them. Because seriously, it would seem that if the statement is true that "if you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything," then your family/friends must not be anything, and if your family/friends isn't anything, then even when you've got your health, what do you really have? 35 cents in your pocket?
Of course my first recollection with the phrase is The Princess Bride when the old count says it to the Man in Black before sucking out 65 years of his life. The kind of thing that makes you laugh and by association, assume the phrase isn't any deeper than the movie.
I will step back for a second, though, to say that I have been sick, and I really hate it, and while I've never been longer than overnight in the hospital, I do feel severely incapacitated when I'm sick, so yeah, I get where the phrase comes from and have compassion for those out longer than I've ever been.
However, I also think it might be interesting to explore a little bit, take a second look at the phrase.
What does it mean to have something? In different languages, it means different things. For example, in English, we say I'm 34. But in French, I'd say I have 34 years. So you can have an age in French. You can have hunger in French, too; while in English, you're just hungry--it's what you are. In Spanish, more appropriately, they have two different kinds of being, so at least you don't have to be defined by your hunger. Phew! (actually I'm not as fluent in Spanish, so I don't know if you are hungry or have hunger. In any case, I wonder if that commercial for the 100 calorie bags works in other countries? You know the one--Hi, I'm starved. Hello, I'm regretting that huge bag of potato chips I just ate... etc.)
Well, my coworker was speaking in English, so we'll just stick with that I guess. What can you have in English? Well, I might have 35 cents in my pocket, right? I suppose I might still have that if I were sick in the hospital. Although, after my last few visits to la hopital, all my other pennies got munched by the insurance and medical bills. And when I've had to wait in the emergency room very long, I think my friend wanted some pennies for the vending machine. So much for that.
So there must be something else you can have. It's a pretty common word. How about a degree? You can have a degree. I have a degree. And in the hospital, I still have it. No, I didn't take my diploma with me. Silly. But I still had it. Even if someone sneaked into my room and stole the white envelope thing off my dresser, I could probably call the university and get another copy. That's something the doctors and insurance people can't take away. It's a done deal. Can't take it away.
On the other hand, if I actually died and had no health at all in that sense, would I still have a degree? Hm, I guess whoever inherited my stuff could have a copy of my degree, but they really couldn't say it was theirs. It kind of has my SSN attached to it and stuff. And since I think I'd have a hard time contacting the university from the other side to show proof if someone stole the white envelope from my dresser, I guess if I haven't got my health, I haven't got a degree. And well, as long as we're going that far, regardless of a friend and the vending machiens, I probably wouldn't even be able to claim that 35 cents in my pocket either. Maybe my coworker was right.
But! Oh I just thought of something. You can take your intelligence with you. Is that something you can have? Well, we do say "I'm smart." But you could say "I have an IQ." or "I have knowledge," so that works. And if it takes some people having a degree to get that intelligence, well, then I guess that's not such a bad thing. (When you're going to get knowledge, the degree is more of just this measure for the university so they know when to kick you out. So really, the intelligence is something that if the university burned down and lost your records, you could still have.)
Of course, when you're really sick and your stuck in bed and can't even read a book or open your eyes or think clearly, it might not seem to be doing you much good. And then there's those people who get alzheimers and dimentia, and though they've got it in there somewhere, it's really not doing them any good. So I guess it goes both ways--you've got it and you ain't.
But I'm pretty sure there's got to be something not so iffy. What else can you have? A family! Yes, we do say, "I have a family." I've got one too! And when I've been sick, I've still had a family. In fact, one of the times I was really sick and ended up having to go to the hospital, I actually spent more time on the phone with my family than usual. So you might say you've got more family when you haven't got your health. And since my family has been sealed in the temple, we'll still be together after none of us has any health, and in fact, we'll even be able to meet family members we were never able to meet when we had our health, so yeah, there again, more family. Now there's a little irony.
I think I need to add that sometimes good friends are like family, so while some people might not have very good "family" in the traditional sense, most people have at least one good friend. And in fact, I also believe that we'll be reunited with those people in the celestial kingdom, because as it says in one of the latter D&C sections, the same sociality that exists among us here will exist among us there.
So if people don't have good family or friends--or even if they do and they do nothing about trying to keep them, then I really do feel bad for them. Because seriously, it would seem that if the statement is true that "if you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything," then your family/friends must not be anything, and if your family/friends isn't anything, then even when you've got your health, what do you really have? 35 cents in your pocket?
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