Cleanliness is Next to Godliness Essay

"Cleanliness is next to Godliness," is a wise saying that refers to the importance of cleanliness in a person's life. It was first quoted by an English cleric John Wesley in the year 1778. By saying so, he implied that as much as we devotedly pursue religion, we likewise need to opt for cleanliness also. 

The phrase instilled a sense of cleanliness in people and encouraged everyone to adopt clean habits and hygiene with the same devotion of commitment towards God. A clean mind and body are what God desires and society respects. This phrase also refers to the cleanliness of body, mind, and soul. The purity of thought automatically translates to the efforts one makes to maintain cleanliness. 

The meaning of Godliness is the quality of being Godly or devoutly Religious. Comparing it to cleanliness, it refers to the idea that every person must keep themselves and their home clean to be spiritually pure. When we keep ourselves and our surroundings neat and clean, we purify our bodies and mind from evil thoughts and negativity.

Cleanliness is the mantra to succeed in life as we can only perform well when we stay healthy. It is essential to remain clean and hygienic. Cleanliness is required for a healthy body and mind and hence a moral obligation for everyone. It reflects an individual’s identity about their character, nature, belief system, background, upbringing, and culture. Cleanliness is non-negotiable, and it is what you need to do for your wellbeing. So, it is the primary duty of every individual to keep himself and his surroundings neat and clean.

When cleanliness is a part of our lifestyle, we automatically aim to keep ourselves clean externally and internally, thus improving our personality. People often judge others by observing their attention to hygiene and attitude regarding cleanliness. This aspect has an impact even on the moral standards you maintain. Hence there lies a close connection between personal cleanliness and health. Cleanliness in your dressing also speaks volumes about how you do up yourself, your clothes, footwear, nails, etc. When we look neat and clean, it boosts our overall confidence, self-esteem, and self-respect.

So many cultures have a strict regime of washing hands and legs before entering the house. That's why in traditional setups, a bucket would be kept next to the house's porch so that people wash their hands and feet before entering the house. Washing hands is a norm in most homes before and after mealtime.

Benefits of Cleanliness

To achieve cleanliness, first, we need to understand its importance and benefits. Cleanliness is not only required for healthy and quality living but also has some other benefits as well. Here are the top 10 benefits of cleanliness that will help us to understand the importance of cleanliness in our lives:

1. Cleanliness minimises the chances of getting sick and can help us live a healthy livelihood. We all know that a dirty environment invites many diseases like Dengue, Malaria, etc. Germs and bacteria love to stay in dirty surroundings. By cleaning our surroundings, we can minimise the risk of falling sick and can stay healthy.

2. It helps you to be organised. When we clean our surroundings, our belongings get automatically categorised, and we are easily able to manage and find everything.

3. It keeps germs and viruses away. Regular cleaning doesn't let the mosquitoes or germs stay in our surroundings and help us to be healthy.
   It gives us mental peace. When everything around us is neat and clean, we feel mentally relaxed and happy.

4. Cleanliness increases our positivity. A dirty environment brings negativity moreover makes a person lethargic. When we clean ourselves and our surroundings, we feel positive vibes around us that keeps us happy and relaxed.

5. It increases our productivity. Our productivity directly depends on our health. When we live in a dirty environment, we tend to fall sick more often, which hampers our productivity. But when we live in a clean environment, we tend to work more positively, and our productivity also increases.

6. Cleanliness is good for mental health as it reduces stress and depression and gives you a feeling of well-being.

7. It enhances your personality. When we clean ourselves, we look well-groomed and more attractive.

8. Cleanliness changes people's perception of you. Everybody likes to maintain hygiene and be a hygienic person. When we live in a dirty environment or a messy state, people don't approach us. But when we live in a clean condition, we look more presentable, and people tend to approach us as they find us more organised and attractive.

9. Cleanliness reduces the cost of maintenance. When we keep things neat and clean, they last longer, and we don't have to spend much on their maintenance and care.

Now when we are aware of the benefits and advantages of cleanliness, we must focus on the ways to achieve cleanliness around us to live a healthy and peaceful life.

How to achieve Cleanliness?

Some simple, yet essential steps are required to achieve cleanliness. Moreover, cleanliness is not a one-day thing, but it is a habit that we must develop for a lifetime. It is a moral duty of an individual to keep himself and his environment clean and healthy for better living. To achieve cleanliness around us, we must follow these steps in our daily routine:

1. To achieve cleanliness, we must keep dustbins at required places to dump all the waste in it, instead of throwing it here and there.

2. It is essential to categorise the waste into two categories: Dry Waste and Wet Waste. We should keep two separate dustbins so that dry waste can be dumped in one dustbin and the wet waste in another. This will make waste management easy for all.

3. Don't just dump the waste in dustbins but also clean the dustbins regularly. We must use dustbins that have a lid on them to keep mosquitoes from flying away from them.

4. We should regularly do dusting in our home and office to keep all the belongings dust-free because dust invites many germs and causes allergies and diseases.

5. It is vital to keep our toilet hygienic and germ-free. For this, we must clean it twice a week with a good toilet cleaner and floor disinfectant.

6. It is also important to keep yourself neat and clean to achieve cleanliness. For that, we must take a bath regularly using good soap and shampoo.

7. We should also wash our clothes and utensils on time to keep them clean and germ-free. For that, we must use a good detergent or dishwasher cleaner that not only cleans them but also kills all the germs and bacteria present in them.

8. We should also cut our nails from time to time because they contain many germs which can go in our mouth while eating and can cause many diseases. Also, when we cut nails, we look more presentable and attractive.

9. Oral Hygiene is also very important to take care of our mouth and teeth. To keep them healthy and safe, we should brush them twice a day with germ-killing toothpaste. Also, we should rinse our mouth well with water after eating anything; otherwise, the germs will stay in our mouth, causing damage and stink.

10. We should also clean our hands regularly as many invisible germs are present on our hands when we touch anything. Before eating food, we should always wash our hands with a good soap or hand wash.

Cleanliness Campaigns

The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission) was launched on 2nd October 2014 on Mahatma Gandhi’s 145th birth anniversary and it has been a massive campaign for a few years to keep our surroundings, houses, offices, localities, city, state, and nation clean. It was first envisioned by Mahatma Gandhi - a clean India. 

World Environment Day, celebrated on 5th June every year, focuses on protecting our ecosystem. This awareness begins with each one of us keeping ourselves and our environment clean on an individual basis. So many organisations, businesses, schools, colleges, and NGOs have joined hands together to promote cleanliness and taken up the Swachh Bharat campaign to undertake cleaning of roads, parks, gardens, seashores, riverbanks, and other public areas. You can participate in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and get featured with pictures of your volunteering activities towards cleanliness. Millions of students are pledging to make a clean India.

During the alarming spread of the Coronavirus pandemic, which still causes a great threat to so many lives, there has been a spiking rise in educating masses on the basics of cleanliness. Washing hands regularly and using sanitizers is the only way to fight diseases like these and save lives.

The term WASH stands for Water, Sanitisation, and Hygiene. It is essential that healthy living and hygienic regimes are followed. Cleanliness is the only way to tackle the spears of diseases, viruses, and germs. We can concentrate on our work better when working in clean living spaces, a clean body, and a clean mind. It is a culture that we must pursue and invest in.

Cleanliness has an overall impact on us and thus keeps us active, healthy, and productive in our work and growth. We are obligated to clean not only ourselves but also our environment and surrounding areas. Clean India is possible only when every individual seeks to make efforts towards the same.

Conclusion:

By following these simple habits in our daily routine, we can keep ourselves and our surroundings neat and clean. Cleanliness is utterly essential to lead a healthy and peaceful lifestyle, and we should not neglect it. Instead, we should encourage other people as well to stay clean and lead a healthy life.