This past weekend my family and I travelled to a little-known park called Ricketts Glen. It’s a Pennsylvania state park located in the Endless Mountain Region, which is in the Northeast part of the state just west of the Poconos. It’s well worth the three-hour drive from the Philadelphia area. We consider it to be one of the hidden treasures in Pennsylvania.

The park is located on Red Rock Mountain. The region is covered by a majestic forrest that conceals the Glens Natural Area and twenty-three beautiful waterfalls. They range in height from 11′ to 94′ high and are absolutely breathtaking. And to see them all, you’ll definitely get quite a workout. A difficult hiking trail called the “Falls Trail” calls out to you as it offers a close up view of all but one of the falls.

It was our fourth time visiting the park and we decided to “push it” a little this time since our kids were a bit older and stronger. We took the shortest route looping through the Falls Trail, which was approximately 4 miles long. We started at around 10:00 AM, and finished four and one-half hours later! Joshua, our three-year-old toughed it out until the last mile at which point he was hoisted up on to my shoulders for an easy ride home.

It’s great when exercise fits right into enjoyable activities, like hiking. While we were enjoying the wonderful surroundings, we didn’t even realize we were burning up between 300-500 calories per hour! Of course, everyone felt it the next day or two.

Later we had to prepare for our campfire by gathering and chopping wood. More exercise camouflaged as fun! After dinner, we got together with another family and organized an exciting game of “capture the flag”. We set up the field in and around the woods surrounding the cabins and used brooms as flags. More exercise in the form of running, chasing, and sneaking through the woods. Laura had even got into the fray and secretly snuck all the way into “enemy” territory unnoticed.

Rest came later as everyone sat around the campfire and shared stories of the days events. We were blessed with beautiful weather and a clear sky that gave way to a host of twinkling stars. It was our kids’ first realization that our sky is literally filled with stars from horizon to horizon. They were amazed.

The next day we “relaxed” more at the lake. Our family spent the day wrestling on the beach, playing football, and running in and out of the cold water. The day finished again with preparations for dinner and the campfire and another round of “capture the flag”.

Overall we had a full weekend. Our trip to Ricketts Glen State Park was filled with wonder, laughter, togetherness and lots of physical activity. Overall, it wasn’t the most relaxing trip… but it was good.

Returning to the office on Monday, I was asked by my staff how my weekend was. I responded, “It stunk”. I’m usually pretty active, especially with my kids on the weekends. But not this weekend.

It began last Friday, with tiredness, fever, periodic hacking cough, and chills. It continued and worsened a little throughout the weekend, although It never got as bad as I thought. When I arrived Monday morning at the office I still wasn’t 100%, but felt well enough to manage okay.

I was asked if I took any medication to help. Did I consult a medical doctor? Did I take my temperature? Was it the flu?… A cold?… A virus?

I didn’t take any medicine, I didn’t visit a doctor, and I didn’t take my temperature. I don’t even know what I had! So how did I recover?… My body healed, naturally.

No medicine needed. No special chiropractic adjustments. No special nutritional supplements. Just the God-given power of natural healing working.

Let me explain a few simple strategies I use when I don’t feel my best.

#1) I remind myself that symptoms have a purpose. Things like fever, chills, coughing, lack of hunger are signs of a healthy body that’s fighting and needs to put it’s focus on a priority situation. I reasonably assess my situation. If it’s an emergency, I seek medical attention… if not, then I give my body the opportunity to heal naturally.

#2) I don’t try to suppress the symptoms with medications (i.e. Tylenol to lower fever). Studies show that suppressing natural body symptoms just prolongs the illness.

#3) I listen very carefully to my body. If I’m thirsty I drink water. If I’m hungry I eat… if not, then I fast. True hunger feelings will be in the throat, not in the belly or gut.

#4) If I’m truly hungry, I’ll eat and choose my foods carefully. I stick with steamed veggies, soups and fresh fruit mostly. It may be better to stick with all raw vegetarian foods, but I usually do better with them lightly cooked and in soups.

So to sum up my weekend: I rested, fasted, drank water, rested some more, and finally ate a little. By Monday night I felt nearly 100%. These strategies have been working for me since the 1987. And my wife and 4 children have been thriving on these strategies as well.

When your body is healthy, it’s quite capable of handling these seasonal-type illnesses without any outside interference. People are way too quick to grab a quick-fix pill. But health isn’t found in a bottle.

Why do people have such a hard time trusting the wonderful healing potential that’s already in each of us?