An eh-piss-uhl by sega.

What is an epistle? I feel I must clarify myself if I want to make that my title, now that you know how to phonetically pronounce it. Yay Phoenicians!

Definition according to my best buddy, wikipedia: An epistle (pronounced [ɪˈpɪsəl]) (Greek επιστολη, epistolē, "letter") is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of persons, usually a letter and a very formal, often didactic and elegant one.

Okay, fantastic. And now let us begin writing something that will blow your nail off your toe.

Urgh. I wish I could have a line break. I'll make my own.
___________________________________________________________________

As I just recently finished an article on prescription drug abuse and had a totally unexpected, but insightful chat with my high school principal, my view on medicine and American society in particular has only been strengthened.

We do not want to feel pain. We cannot bear it, not one ounce. And the luxury of our blessed society allows us to begone with it in an instant. Oh, you feel a bit of a headache coming on? Quick, drown seven Advils! Thank goodness I learned how to swallow pills. Just think of all the colorful new drugs I'd be missing out on if I wasn't able to!

I saw the most unfortunate ad driving past one of those Marta bus stations. I cannot exactly remember what it said, but I caught the gist of it. It was advertising for what I believe was Advil. Actually, this might have been in a magazine. Either way, its just as bad. But to get on with it, the ad had a couple of sayings. "wearing high heels, playing with my kids, stress at work... I'm all Advil." WEARING HIGH HEELS? As if this is an absolute necessary task that if not done will result in absolute disaster. And thus, now that you must wear insanely high heels all day to be way snazzy looking, you've got a great solution to dull the pain away! Yes, I'm all Advil!

Why is it that we must put ourselves in painful situations anyways. You're stressed from school, aren't getting any sleep, and get a tension headache? Don't take a painkiller. GO TO SLEEP. Hurt from wearing high heels? Don't take a painkiller. JUST DON'T WEAR THEM. I'm sorry, but that one just kills me.

And what we need to understand is that by taking a pill, much like an antibiotic, the more you take the less effect it has on your body. When you take a pill for a trifle of pain, the next time you really need it, you are going to take something far stronger and far worse for your body. It's not worth it. Take the pain a little. Use alternative remedies. Drink tea if you have a cold, seriously. It'll help. Well, unless you've been relying on Tylenol for your entire life.

And it's not even just painkillers. We have these terrible medicines that are supposed to make us "normal." Please define normal. Please, do so. If it is a classroom full of zombie-like students not making a twitch, then by all means, make all those lunatics that can't stand still take ADD medicine. Well if parents can't discipline them, at least we can rely on medicine! Just make them normal as fast as possible! Quick, time is running out!

It sickens me. Our society is so addicted to medicine. We look down upon all those pot-heads and crack-heads. But most of us are just as bad as them, taking medicine every day. Why is it that everytime you go in to the doctor's room complaining about an ailment, you go out carrying a prescription for a $150 bottle of Zljsdafndsflux? Not even a fleeting thought of something other alternative, that is safer.

Mr. Duncan made a pretty awesome note when I was interviewing him about the whole prescription drug abuse going on especially among teenagers. [To read more about this intriguing topic, buy a Speculator from me next Friday. Just $1!] He said that prescription drug companies are marketing these drugs as solutions, not problems. They are playing with our heads. This drugs are gooood. They will make us feel betttterrrr. Aaaaaaaah. Betttterrr. And then boom, you go over board, you take too many, you take the wrong combination. You're dead.

Certainly, medicine has had a profound effect on society, saving the lives that were lost without the knowledge we hold today. I commend all those geniuses who made the medicines that we truly need.

But honestly, some of the things we're taking our completely unneccesary. It is a complete luxury that none other than the richest nation in the world is overdosing on. We can't live our life drugged. We need to live our life by protecting our body the natural way, in a way that produces optimized performance. Really! Our body is perfect when we let it be. When we nurture it and not abuse it and then try to get that quick fix, that well, has more side effects than what your solving.