Learning from Everything
Life is very instructive: too bad too many don't attend to the wisdom of their own lives -- for that is real intelligence, and not simply a trick to make others think so. By that measure, we call "intelligence," but is nowhere close to being all that can be known -- at all times. The mind that is completely open to all the intelligence around them, is letting the intelligence of all humanity guide them -- rather than thinking they alone can reinvent the wheel, in everything they do. That is not likely to be an efficient way of living -- even for the most intelligent among us.
Instead, what one must be able to do, is assess and absorb the intelligence of all those around us -- who may know more than we do -- about that particular thing. That implies knowing which to trust, and which to overlook, in providing that information. Often, there are ulterior motives for providing that information -- often for self-serving purposes. You only hear what is advantageous for them -- and not that that information can be beneficial to oneself. In fact, it could even be detrimental to one's health and well-being -- but that is also what one can learn.
The good, the bad, and the ugly. One merely accepts and takes in that information -- before deciding that nothing is going according to plan. If one is paying attention, it could lead to a new beginning -- of everything they know. And that is a good thing -- rather than a bad thing, because it is easier to relearn everything, than to just change one thing. Then, one has to change every bit, as though it is unrelated to every other thing -- until one makes those adjustments. But if they're learning everything with a fresh mind, one doesn't have to do those infinite adjustments -- the world is born wholly new, in a higher understanding.
And that is what it is most difficult to learn -- that everything one knows, is not perfect knowledge, but some corruption of it. It probably is an imperfect understanding of reality. And so one is always finding out -- whether that knowledge, actually represents reality -- or whether they should find out directly by engaging it. In that latter mode, one will learn more than they realized was possible. Every moment has that significance -- in going many ways. They are pregnant with the many possibilities.
A rare few make the best of them. Most fritter away unlimited opportunities -- never making the best of any. So the trick is -- how to make the best of anything? That requires learning from everything -- from moment to moment, and the situation is always fluid, always in flux. If it is knowledge of 50 years ago, the world has changed several times over since then.
There is no knowledge for all time -- and forever after. Always, something new is coming into being, and something old is leaving -- and so the world is ever changing. That need not be disruptive or ruinous, but simply the truth of the moment -- which too will change in time. Only the mind attempts to make it a permanent thing, and life is not that way. It is a flow of one reality to the next. Everyone comes to realize that what was true when they were 20, is not the truth for when they are 60, and when they are 100, truth is what they make of it each day -- and only those who do, continue on for another. But that is fair enough -- they've had more than their fair share of time, to do with it as they will.
What lies beyond that, is anybody's guess.
Getting Started
The difficulty in doing anything, is getting started. That is true for exercise programs, diet, writing, speaking, changing anything. As always, the best time to start doing anything different, is right now, and not a moment longer continuing the old ways.
Most will counter that they have to finish off their junk food before they can begin a healthy new diet -- which means they are adding to the problem, rather than stopping it immediately, and beginning on a new better course. So of course, they maintain their old habits -- rather than living a better life immediately, and thereafter. Diet is obviously the most visible and tangible example, but also along that line, are the many behaviors that are less obvious, like saying one thing, while doing something else entirely -- often what is expressly counterproductive, as though it was a neutral and normal act -- when it is the problem, or not working.
Yet people persist -- and wonder what went wrong. They may even insist they are doing all the "right" things but getting all the "wrong" results -- and have no clue that the "right" efforts, produce the right results -- and no amount of doing the wrong things, will get the right results.
That's often not what one is taught in the classroom as the "right" answer -- and so one must never question it. However, in every random sample of people, there will be the one or two who will question everything -- because that is the kind of person they are, and will probably remain so all their lives. Those are the few who go on to discover many things that most will not suspect possible -- nor be able to tell the difference, because everything they know to be true, is what somebody else told them -- and never what they have determined for themselves. Everyone has that right -- but few will choose to exercise them -- waiting only for somebody else to tell them what to think, and what is right -- as though there is only one authority on such matters, rather than everybody finding out what the truth of the matter is.
The truth of any matter, is that nobody knows with absolute and authoritative certainty what the truth is -- although a few will come forward and claim that omniscience. To question them, is to question and spit in the face of God Himself -- they will suggest to unknowing and undiscriminating reporters. In fact, many of that profession, pride themselves on being undiscriminating about anything -- which should make one wary of accepting such sources -- because admittedly, they cannot tell the truth from the false, and have no way of knowing but to ask someone else.
Thus it has been noted, that a falsehood can travel around the world, in the time it takes to unravel the truth of any matter -- as though speed was all that mattered. Simple truths, often take time to be revealed -- but by then, many have lost interest, and have jumped on many subsequent erroneous bandwagons on the road to folly. So ultimately, time is the test of truth -- and abandons most when they need it the most. That is the aging process.
Those who live their lives well, see their lives get better, while those who have wasted every advantage ever provided, have nothing left, and are deeper in debt and deficit on every facet of life. Ultimately it shows -- whether they were naughty or nice. Eating more than their fair share of food -- eventually shows up -- everywhere. Not exercising shows up as well. Not writing or speaking, results in an inability to communicate -- especially in what one thinks should be obvious. It was never made obvious -- in any tangible way. The wishful thinking was never communicated to the universe -- one hoped and expected it would.
That may be in another universe -- but not this one, where things are made manifest. Therefore, people who know what they are talking about, show it -- in appearance, thought and action, and not that the truth is what anyone says it is -- regardless. Who has been given that authority and dominion over all the others? That is a sobering question for those who presumed that authority -- just because they could.
But everyone has that authority in their own lives -- but should proceed cautiously and deliberately, and not with reckless abandon just because they can, or saw somebody else do it. That is true even following the advice of all the designated experts in the field -- the best of whom do not claim to know everything, because finding out for oneself, is the only real truth -- and what ultimately matters. That is an ancient wisdom that has never become obsolete.
That moment of truth arrives as soon as one stops listening to the "experts," and listens to the truth of what their own body and senses are telling them -- in the mind-body connection. Those who do that well, become the masters of their own universe and lives -- which reveals itself in time, as one ages, and how one ages. If everything they know is false, that facade is revealed -- for truth will stand the test of time, or expose them. That is the (un)pleasant truth of every life. How a person ages -- or doesn't, is the story of their lives. That's what time tells.
None of that gets wiped away. Every thought, deed, and action is etched on their faces and bodies. It can be a blessing or a curse; it is cause and effect, played out in every life -- as it must be. They may get away with it for 20, 40 years, but eventually, it catches up to them -- but that is good or bad, depending on what one did.
When the forty or sixty years are up, there is still time enough to get it right -- and that is the beauty of it. One can always begin anew -- from now on, but even those given "one more chance," will find a way to waste it. But they get a chance, with every moment they still live -- until it is over. But if one has previously wasted every moment of their lives, the chances are not great they can turn their lives around -- but it is always possible, as long as there is life. And so the question remains, what is possible -- and how to make it so?
It's easier done than said. It doesn't need saying -- it needs doing. But rather than doing the most difficult thing possible, one should try the easiest thing possible -- and that works if one is nine or ninety. But one has to actually do something -- and not simply think or talk about doing it. If one can make that connection, then there is a way to improve one's functioning and condition. One does not need to ask how much? -- and all those diversions from actually doing anything. That is most people's first line of defense -- to convince themselves (and everybody else around them) they cannot.
If they just lift one finger, that is more than they have done in years -- on their own behalf. When they realize that, they see why the world and themselves are in the condition it is in -- with good reason and purpose. They have to make the connection between thinking of doing something, and actually doing it -- and in that insight, the world is changed, and everything is different. Nobody can do it for anybody or everybody else. That's how the world changes -- one life at a time, wholly, individually, and personally -- and that is the actuality of every life by every individual.
Everything One Does is an Exercise
No one is as certain as a person who has no idea what they are talking about. People who know better, are much less certain that they know -- before they have bothered to find out for themselves. Most just accept what others tell them is the truth of the matter. It's much easier this way. They never have to question anything -- just presume to know what they are doing, because they think they know what everybody else is doing and thinking.
Undoubtedly, the world is changing -- just as it always has. Change is simply what we have to deal with -- neither good nor bad. That is simply the challenge of the moment -- time and place. In no time was it easier, or more difficult. So what is one to make of it all?
Not just a part -- but the whole. Health is being as good as one can be -- all their life. For many more, that is now possible. Exercise is a good thing -- and not the last thing one should be doing. Eating has a purpose, and not just the latest entertainment. Lifestyle is the best one can conceive of being. That was not preconceived a long time ago by people who knew more than we do today. In this time, we know as much and more than was ever known before -- because we have greater access to all of it -- the good, the bad and the ugly.
Quality of life is increasing one's exposure to the good -- and eliminating, or at least avoiding the bad as much as possible. Those are the options in life -- we can choose to exercise -- some more than others, and by those choices and outcomes, we create our lives. Nobody can and should do it for anybody else -- and ensure those outcomes for everybody else. That is simply not possible -- because we are born as individuals, of which the meaning is, wholly unique and indivisible. We all own our lives -- whether any constitution guarantees that or not. It is simply a fact of life -- just as herds of zebras will attempt to cross a crocodile-infested river -- but not all will survive. Most will, or the species will not survive.
Humankind is blessed to be much more adaptable -- and have more options capable of being exercised. One doesn't necessarily have to be the singular world champion at it for it to be useful and meaningful. It just simply has to do the job -- and serve its specific purpose -- and that invariably means, doing what absolutely needs to be done -- first and foremost, and not being distracted by all the entertainment and trivial available.
At this time, as every other, it is a challenge to determine which are the urgent and which are the trivial -- just because another thought of it, and wants to sell it to everybody else. In that way, a lot of people lose their way -- in games, alcohol, drugs, and self-aggrandizing/isolating activity. They are convinced by the marketers that "fake" is better than "authentic," and come to prefer it -- even if it endangers their existence.
So "exercise" is not "fake," but the real -- what one actually does, whether in front of a large group of witnesses, or for their own better judgment exclusively. Those latter, are far more likely to know the real course of their lives -- than the many deceived by the applause of those who know even less than they do, or they would be doing it themselves. But the truly meaningful, is doing it themselves -- and finding out the truth of any matter -- with minimal risk to one's continued viability.
One has to risk not knowing -- in order to learn the new, and in that wager, only risks the unknown. Those who presume to know, never bother to find out -- so certain they are, that they already know everything that can be known, and are even convinced, they discovered/invented it themselves.
Such people think they know all the right answers, when they have not even begun to ask the right questions -- and think all those who do not know what they do, must be censored and persecuted until they come around to seeing what they do -- as the only way things can ever be. That is the timeless history of civilization, evolution and actuality. What one does, is the way life and the world is. That is the exercise of life -- and not just meaningless practice. It becomes the real.
Genius is making the Difficult and Complex, Simple and Easy
And not vice-versa. That is the important lesson and principle usually lost in instruction. By that, one will be able to distinguish those who know enough, and those who have no idea what they are talking about -- and so everything is equally impressive and intimidating. Unless it is so, nobody will listen to them -- and think them important messengers and interpreters of the gods themselves.
In their world, it is most important to be highly regarded as an expert -- and never humbled by their own ignorance, which is the beginning of every journey to great discovery. That's not what they are interested in -- really and vitally, and it is only that passion, that opens the doors to endless discoveries. And so it is not so important how much they already know, but the great discoveries that await them.
That is the great disillusionment of "aging" -- that what they know, is not all that can be known -- and there are worlds yet to be discovered, that they have to begin like everyone else -- as though they know nothing. That is the hardest lesson to learn -- that what one knows, is only the beginning to what can be known -- and is not all that can be known forevermore. That is the quandary of every time and age -- and the difference between the young and the old minds.
The young mind wants to know what works; the old mind holds on to what it knows despite that it does not work -- now and if it ever did. Yet it will be unchanging in what it knows -- and insist that is what everyone else must also know -- even if what they know, doesn't work. That is knowledge for knowledge's sake -- as though merely accumulating as much as possible, was the magic.
The mass media would like us to believe that the only reason their explanation does not work, is because not enough people believe it -- and only when there is 100% belief in it, that the miraculous will happen. Of course, the reason people believe something, is that it works -- regardless of how many people believe in it, or even nobody believes it. It is the belief that has to be brought into line with what is actually happening, and not the belief -- that unless everybody is in on the mass delusion, reality will not manifest.
And so every attempt is made to undermine individual experiment and discovery -- in deference only to the experts (high priests) and those who feel they should have exclusive rights to tell everybody else what to believe. In no event, should anybody be allowed to think for themselves -- just as it has always been -- according to them.
According to their dogma, The Truth has always been passed down from one generation of the Chosen to the next -- and everybody else is forbidden from that knowledge, or even inquiring into it. That is their turf, or exclusive jurisdiction. It even says so -- in The First Commandment, and First Amendment -- that there is deliberate intention to create a caste above all the others -- as The Fourth Estate -- beyond the kings, nobles, clergy and peasants. That is just the way it has always been -- as God intended, and they were charged with enforcing.
Thus thinking independently and for oneself -- becomes the ultimate trespass against the social order -- as much as they can get everyone else to subscribe to -- and like. But it goes far beyond "liking," and letting each individual determine such matters for themselves. They must be forced to conform for their own good -- and nothing else will do -- because only they know better, what is best for all.
That is the stuff of parables -- since the beginning of consciousness. There is a reason ancient wisdom rings true for every succeeding generation -- and that always begins with the advice to Know and Trust One's Own Judgment -- no matter how much pressure is placed on one to conform to what one knows violates every sensibility they know to be true.
In such quandaries, they must resort to the basics of what they know to be true -- and test each assumption they've accepted without questioning, or even suspect that it couldn't be true -- and get down to the error of their ways. Only then does the possibility of discovering a greater possibility than ever thought possible become the inevitable.
The greater life has a mind and intelligence of its own -- far more than anybody's small part of it -- that they think to impose upon the whole. That is the proverbial Zero-Sum Game -- of one seeming to dominate all the others -- at their expense, for however long that lasts. But it too, will not be forever.
A simpler, more powerful truth will be revealed. The many ad hoc explanations give way, are integrated and assimilated into one more comprehensive, simple explanation. The one thing, is more significant than all the others -- that merely cancel one another, rather than giving greater force to the essential truth of the matter.
It doesn't matter how difficult and hard a movement appears that makes it productive -- because what really matters is the movement of blood and essential nutrients within that accounts for all the productivity in healthy benefits. That is true for the dying as well as the world-class athlete. When that movement stops, life ceases, and further growth is not possible -- because it is that sustenance and connection with the greater environment, that has to be maintained and enhanced for the highest actualization of all those possibilities.
One Day at a Time
While planning for the future is good, looking too far ahead often gets one in trouble. It is better to think that what works well in the present, provides the stepping stone to the future -- and so one must ensure that is done as well as possible. Otherwise, one gets too far ahead of themselves, and is often tripped up.
Those are the words of wisdom embodied in the advice to build one's house on a solid foundation -- lest the slightest shift in the winds of fortune, blow one away. Then, if one runs out of time and money, those coming after them, can continue to build on what one left behind -- as their legacy.
Not to think in this manner, means the next generation will always have to start from scratch, repeating the same mistakes of every previous generation -- and so it is lamented that history only repeats itself, rather than building on the previous generation's work and knowledge. In that way, some cultures pull ahead, while many others remain in the Stone Age -- casting rocks as the only thing they know to do. Implied in that, is the fierce struggle to get to the top, but once there, they have no idea what to do but to keep everyone else down so they cannot get ahead of them. That is the proverbial zero-sum game in which there can only be one winner, and everybody else must be losers -- and there is no greater meaning and purpose beyond that.
We know that as the life in the worst of conditions -- where nobody can go to sleep comfortable and confident in knowing that when they awaken again, they will still have everything they went to sleep with -- and not that everything can be taken from them at every moment. That is the fierce struggle for survival among many of the beasts of the world -- as well as a few cultures that must die out for that lack of planning for that secure and prosperous future.
That is what culture is: the foundation upon which everyone else can proceed on further. It need not be perfect, but it is at least a start in the right direction, and if it turns out to be the wrong direction, it is recognized as that rather than erased from memory. A written record of being wrong, is often as valuable as no record of being right -- and how we got there. It is a paper trail -- of what we did right, as well as what we did wrong -- and not merely keeping the right, and erasing the wrong -- to make ourselves seem infallible. The process is every bit as important as the solution -- and by that, we know how to discover that again -- each time we need to. But merely holding the answer, tells us nothing about how to get there again -- if we lose it, or lose our way.
So much for knowing all the answers -- but not knowing how to get there. The truth of any matter is not discovered once for all time -- but is rediscovered each time, and even refined and improved in each iteration. That is the process of evolution -- and not the countless, unvarying repetition for ages. That is not an accurate portrait of reality. Every person doing something, adds a little bit to the process -- whether they realize it or not. It may be their lack of understanding, as well as greater insight.
And so life turns out differently -- for everyone of us. So to believe everyone will have the same outcomes in life, shows a real lack of understanding of anything. That is to believe that one can just do anything, and the results will be the same -- but that is how many think, and that is the sorrow in the world.
When people no longer get the desired results from what they are doing, it is not that doing all the right things no longer works -- but quite obviously, that they are not doing what they think they are doing. In observing people presumably doing the same thing, the astute observer will notice right off, that is not the same thing -- or anything. That frequently occurs when a person loads a bar with so much weight, they can do very little -- if anything with it. Eventually, they just get injured -- to no beneficial effect. In fact, that might be the pivotal event which signals the end to all further doing.
Before that happens, one is better advised to go back to the simplest of beginnings -- which was when good things began to happen -- and when they strayed from those foundations, bad things began to happen -- even while they think they were still doing the same thing. Or just as bad, to get no results -- which leads them to the futility of all further efforts, and any connection of cause and effect. They merely hope for the next miracle drug -- the next panacea. Life is beyond their control.
Taking Nothing for Granted
It is very easy to get used to anything -- so much so that one takes these things for granted, and no longer envisions what life would be like without them. The classic example is A Wonderful Life -- of a chance to envision what life and the world would be without them -- and everything one has and takes for granted. In that way, we often lose sight of the value of all that we already have -- and all the trials ans tribulations it took to get there.
That is the value of writing and record-keeping -- so all of that is not lost, or taken for granted, and we lose that perspective and value such achievements epitomize. There are reasons why things are as they are, and not otherwise. If we didn't know what we know now, it is because that is what it took to get here -- and not that we should have known otherwise from the start. Life and reality doesn't work that way -- it has to get better or it will perish, which doesn't mean it never happened.
Even the mistakes are Nature's way of getting there -- and those who do not learn better, will not survive. Those are just the facts of life -- and not the political or social correctness that have often proven wrong -- though people of their time were so certain of their "rightness."
That is largely the function of time and age -- that reveals that what we were so certain in youth worked, reveals otherwise in time. That is the problem with "exercise" and "practices" one were so certain were good in itself forevermore, proves impossible to do in older years.
The classic examples are the power lifts known as the bench press, squat and deadlifts -- named so because it allows one to lift the most weight, as though that was a good in itself -- and would cure everything as long as one continued to do them. The problem is that by doing them with maximum weights, one eventually gets to the condition in which it is impossible to do any of them anymore -- and any thoughts and efforts in that direction, ceases entirely.
Then the explanation given, is that one is not doing them -- rather than that doing them, got them into that present incapacitated condition. But at that point, it is a lesson learned too late -- and obviously the solution, is not to do more of them -- or to give up entirely, but to look for some other way of thinking and doing that enables and restores those capacities -- hopefully before the point of no return. Sadly, many will continue down that path of no redemption and salvation.
That is the essential history of humankind and civilization -- not simply to repeat history, but rewrite it with each iteration. That doesn't mean merely erasing past mistakes -- but actually learning from them -- and keeping those records intact so one accurately knows where one has already been -- and can go on to explore new paths, and go where they've never gone before. But one will never know that if they erase all evidence of all their past mistakes -- as well as achievements as the milestones for where they've been. For this to have immense value, it must be as complete and accurate as possible -- and not doctored to only tell the story one now wants to believe about their infallibility.
In that way, it is not possible to ever learn from one's mistakes -- and that is the repetition of them -- rather than the possibility of discovering something new and unprecedented. The great problem of this age, as well as every other, is the limits to human functioning and productivity -- not only among the young and able, but more importantly, among the increasing numbers and proportion of those reaching advanced ages -- but in poor and declining abilities. How do we change that? -- beyond the promises of miracle drugs -- and other innumerable commercial ventures promising to deliver those results?
The answer lies within. That's what every wise person has said. But what does that mean? That means for any problem or difficulty, the solution is the obvious -- but never questioned, because it is always taken for granted that one knows what they are doing -- with absolute certainty, if there are any doubts remaining, all that is required, is to apply more brute force to make it work. And for most of history up to then, that was the answer to almost all questions -- more brute force was the answer -- even if it crippled one more and more. Somehow, some way, persisting doggedly in that manner, would make everything turn out right in the end -- and so the problem remained, whether one would live that long to see it happen.
Most, obviously, ran out of time -- and in many cases, mercifully so. The path of deterioration can only travel so long before life is no longer viable and sustainable -- but is that how it must end? We don't have too many examples of it not ending that way. And that is what we would all like to know -- before taking it for granted that it is a foregone conclusion that must end that way. That is the turning point -- at which one is determining that one is improving, or has irreversibly gone into decline -- the demarcation between vibrancy and hopeless aging.
Can we still find a way to win? The answer is obvious -- instead of raising the bar further, we should be lowering it to remain active. That is a very difficult thing for someone to do who has only been taught one thing in life -- and that is to make life more difficult and complicated as their competitive advantage. That is what athletic competition largely conditions one to. That is the instinctive response of most to demonstrate their competitive advantage -- to do what no one else can do -- rather than reveal the manner in which everyone else can also do -- as the universal wisdom and validity for what truly works.
If nobody else can do it, I'd propose that it doesn't work for anybody -- and not that it has to be the new standard of fitness for everyone. Yet that is precisely the approach and mindset of most fitness "experts," and self-proclaimed authorities on these matters. What everybody can do, is obviously a universal truth on the matter. At such a suggestion, many will lose interest -- because it is not something that they know and everybody else does not. Fitness is not only what you know and nobody else does, but what everybody knows to be true -- but just never thought about it.
"More" is Not the Answer
Up until the 21st century, it was always thought that "more" was always the answer -- and never that better might be less, and even different -- from what we presumed was true -- because the self-proclaimed "experts" said so -- because they purchased their certificates from those who sold them. But usually, it takes more than money to make one an expert in any field; it takes time, effort and insight -- in actually learning to think for oneself -- because that is what makes one truly an expert, and not the countless drones merely repeating what somebody else told them is the truth -- and they have no way of finding out the truth of the matter for themselves.
And that is the beauty and joy of life -- discovering the truth of life for oneself -- instead of repeating what all the countless drones before them have -- despite all lack of success. One doesn't want to be among the countless failures who simply "know better" -- while the world around them collapses on top of them. We have a glut of too many of such experts. Some things we use and abuse too much, while other capacities, we use not enough -- and that is the justification for the exercise of those capacities, and not that one must run oneself ragged as though somehow, that was the answer to any question -- under all circumstances.
More often than not, every situation is unique -- requiring the appropriate unique answer for each individual -- rather than the "one size fits everybody" terribly of the last half of the 20th century. We live in a world now that is fully capable of being custom-designed for every individual -- and not the hand-me-down society that was good enough for all the previous generations. But that requires a little bit of personal initiative from each individual -- and not that the government is going to ensure that for everyone equally successfully -- as the politicians promise.
That's also very 20th century -- the government knowing what is best for everybody -- rather than each individual determining that (better) for themselves -- because they have those abilities available to them. That includes health better than the institutions are capable of providing for them. They can now take unprecedentedly better care of themselves -- beyond what the medical systems alone can deliver. Because ultimately, they are better able to provide and determine those things for themselves. And surely, that must happen -- for there to be continued evolution of the human experience.
Simply repeating life as it's always been experienced before -- is not the end-all, be-all of existence. There are always these quantum leaps to where life has never gone before -- but works better, as another one of those fortunate accidents that happens because life makes it possible. What if we have to get better -- and there is no choice about it? Those in poor heath will not survive -- not because we are prejudiced, but because it is a fact of life. Only one's best will suffice.
But does that simply mean doing the familiar old things more -- or is there some other dimension of unlimited possibilities -- unimagined before? That is the very march of progress and evolution. Not more on the continued pattern, but the leap to better understanding and appreciation of the whole -- which has always been the next frontier. Otherwise, we just go around in circles doing the same things we did last year, and fearing there is nothing else -- but more of the same. At such times, civilization has come to a dead end -- of which different measures are entirely necessary.
Such changes do not simply take generations to change and manifest, but is the speed of life as is possible today. At first there will be only the few, then a trickle, before a torrent, and then the stampede to the new. Of course one hopes to be on that leading edge -- and not the rear guard defending the status quo that have already fled leaving them holding the bag -- and nothing else. That is always the quandary living in any time.
Are you a bagholder, or one discovering the greatness of life -- even for oneself? And that does not mean living half one's life waiting to die -- from the next Big Thing. Surely, one deserves more than that. Does one go out on top, or only halfway there? -- or never knowing for sure where one is. It is all a blur -- from one calamity and crisis to the next -- with never a moment to rest and appreciate all one has -- before desiring the "more." More often than not, the answer lies in something else entirely -- and that frame of mind, is truly "fitness." It is the obvious.
It's the range of motion that is the exercise -- and not the limited range of movement (thought) done more often. That is movement into the 21st century -- and beyond.
Making the Most of What You Already Have
The corollary to the solution of always "needing" more, is making the most of what one already has -- and in doing so, one often finds that they don't need anything more -- than what they already have, but have never thought to use. Most obviously, that is the value of exercise -- and the saying that, "if you don't use it, you will lose it." But far before getting to that point, is realizing that one has it in the first place -- because if one never uses it at all, they may never realize that they had those capabilities at all -- ever in their lives! Exercise is therefore the expression of those capabilities, and the mastering of those faculties, is the extent of that articulation -- in the range of possibilities. That is what makes one "articulate" in those expressions -- and beyond that is the mastery and even perfection in those expressions we appreciate in performance venues.
However much we come to appreciate it in others, what matters most, is learning to appreciate those capabilities in ourselves -- and it is true that we never know what we are ultimately capable of, until we discover it for ourselves -- in the doing, and not merely learning from authorities what is the "average." Individual experience will always vary from that norm -- and in every life, that is what is most important to discover, develop and explore -- as the whole meaning of each life.
Many will claim to know what that is -- for everybody -- invariably because they never found out the truth of any matter for themselves, but think that what one authority told them is the truth, is all that can be known of it. With that way of thinking, nothing new and different is ever possible -- and all we can do, is repeat history. Some see it as their highest calling -- that they've never said and done anything that hasn't already been said and done before -- preferably, by everybody else. In such a scheme, the "average" is the best -- and every deviation from that norm, must be vilified and extinguished.
Such a way of being and doing will often cause problems for which there is no resolution in repeating the "solutions" that have never solved the problem before -- yet are highly recommended by the experts and authorities that make a good living from its perpetuation and exaverbation. The problem just gets endlessly worse because there are financial or psychic incentives to do so. So one has to reward themselves by making their lives better by assessing the risks and rewards for doing so -- and acting on them appropriately and prudently.
If something doesn't work, you quit that and find some way that works -- even if one has to discover it for the rest of the world. That won't automatically make one "rich and famous," but one now has a template for making other discoveries -- and that is much more important. Many get lost in the media culture that promises everything but delivers very little. So it is best to rely mostly on one's own sensibilities in discovering the truth of any matter -- and how to go about it for the rest of their lives.
Of course some will be more gifted at doing so than others -- but everyone has their own unique starting point of what is meaningful and significant. Even more important than the start, is that the finish line moves further into the future as one develops more skills and possibilities. However far they have come, they have even more life ahead of them -- and not that it is all behind them now. That doesn't mean that they will live forever, but they live each day as though they will -- and when the end comes, they know they've truly done their best, and all they could.
In that way, they've lived many lives -- and not just the same one thing, repeated endlessly -- in the same way. They end up far from where they started. Those are the most successful lives -- because they have discovered many different lives and ways of being -- in their own. That is the exercise of life -- and not merely the repetition of anything done before to numbing boredom. That, ultimately, is what makes one person successful and others not so much. One is transformed by what they do, while for the many others, no change occurs -- or is even possible.
For the latter, "more" is not the answer that "different" would be. Even those who think they know, often cannot distinguish this difference -- and think the wrong things are responsible. It's only an "option" until you exercise it, and discover how it changes one's life. That takes one down a particular path -- that simply having unlimited options unexercised, can not. It is a commitment of time, energy and focus -- and that is the exercise. So if one wants to be good at 100, start practicing now until you get there.
One or the Other
The muscle is designed to do two things: Contract — and relax, and in doing so, produces movement — visibly, and internally.
As I had realized early on in the initial rush to marathon workouts without end -- the body is actually a precious, limited resource -- and there is nothing in God's universe, that benefits from increasing use, overuse, and outright abuse, that makes it infinitely better -- and observant thinkers have invariably remarked that there seems to be in all things, a point at which one no longer derives a benefit, but then begins to decline, and even dies from "more."
Then the blame is shifted to something agreed upon to be the cause -- rather than recognizing the obviousness of the simple truth of the matter -- which is that stressing the heart unnecessarily more is not a good strategy for getting maximum longevity from the body, or any other resource. In this case, "steroids" (drugs) are solely to blame, and not all the other confounders of unwise and adverse behaviors -- even while the overwhelming cause of death is some heart failure. "How could the heart fail it if was being pushed to the maximum every day?"
That is the nature of things -- it works, until it fails -- and determining that fine line, is the art and science of living -- and not seeing how fast the body (or machine) can go before experiencing that fatal failure. And so the question all should ask, is not how far and fast they can go before going out in a blaze of glory -- but how one can optimize that spark of life for the longest life possible -- and that is obviously the next frontier and challenge of living in these times -- or any other, for that matter.
Obviously the one still standing, sitting and lying -- at will, at 100, trumps all the young people reaching the pinnacle of their sport at 25, and then dying of a heart attack because of all the bad practices they had adopted to get there. And it is not as though it is still a path untrodden -- when it has become predictable and endemic to such activities taken to such extremes without regard for any other practical considerations. Life is a marathon in this sense -- rather than a sprint, or any particular fight to the finish. Living another day in good health, is the proof of that wisdom and knowledge of life and everything in it, and not simply going out in a spectacular blaze of glory -- and taking as many out with them as possible.
That earns no bonus points in the next world -- or this one, for that matter. But most take "optimal health" for granted -- as though it is a given -- rather than the goal. "Optimal" is not "any," or anything one wishes it to be -- but that which proves the exception. It is the difference between the exceptional and the ordinary -- especially in one's own life, and living. That is all it has to be -- and that makes the difference. That is the fine line upon which the balance of life is determined. This or that, better or worse, and in those many tiny decisions, great lives are made or lost. Can one tell the difference? -- or is everything one great big blur?
That journey begins not at the end but obviously at the beginning of each moment. And while such an outlook seems admirable only for the conscientious, that's what it takes to get there -- just as every living thing must decide for itself. There is no off the shelf product for achieving that end. It is the summation of everything one does for an entire lifetime -- and that is the reward, as well as the outcome. Of course, there is still no 100% guarantee of certainty and satisfaction as the marketing says it is -- but one takes their best chances, based on everything they know.
Obviously, what most know to be true isn't getting anyone there already -- or yet -- so what remains to be seen, is what does get one there. That's simply the truth of the matter -- and not simply doing all the "right" things that produce the "wrong" results and outcomes -- and insisting that is what must be. No, things turn out differently -- when people do different things -- than what they are told is the only thing that can be done, despite those famously poor outcomes. That is malpractice of the worst sort -- convincing people they must sabotage themselves in order for that practitioner (adviser) to become rich.
Such advice doesn't work in every aspect of life -- but it is too late to change, and think they must suffer those consequences rather than changing for a more favorable outcome. The better answer is seldom harder to adopt and implement -- and would invariably make their lives easier and less difficult, but their conditioning is to remain doing what they've done previously no matter how disastrous the results have been -- until they no longer try, and merely resign themselves to a poor fate -- despairing in the usefulness of trying. New and better information just seems to bounce off of them as though ping pong balls of truth are being slammed into their faces -- no longer inquiring what hit them.
Those are invariably the people who won't make it -- and will have long given up along the way. When that occurred is a moot point -- because it occurred at so many junctures and turning points untaken. We all hope never to reach that point of no return. But we all seem to lose that steadfastness at some point -- that hope that things can still turn around from the runaway train off the cliff.
How that is achieved is a combination of everything -- and not just one thing -- no matter how prodigious or profligate. Obviously, everything has to go right -- for a lifetime, or at least 100 years, for one to remain viable and robust at 100. But those chances improve with an increasing population -- because it only takes one in a billion to get there. And when that one does, everybody else will know about it -- if they want to. That is now the world we live in.
How People Grow "Old"
The obvious way to tell a person's age and condition -- is to look at the most obvious and visible parts of their body -- which is the head, hands and feet -- where the circulation is likely to be the poorest, even while containing the most vital and important faculties of the body -- the senses located at the head (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, thinking), hands (grip and touch), and feet (balance and locomotion). They are usually the first to go -- and that is why they are usually reliable indicators of age and condition. Only an exceptional few belie the usual trajectory of this deterioration with age. Many people are not aware of this -- so commonplace is it in the older people -- characterized by this predictable obvious pattern of deterioration. For the few who show no such deterioration at these extremities, it is very difficult to assess their age -- because they defy the predictable and expected pattern.
Along with the deterioration in appearance is the lack of movement at those extremities -- which are actually designed for movement rather than the immobility they become with age. Many fail to notice this lack of movement (animation) because they are not observant -- and may even have been taught as children, not to pay attention to these things in others. And so they fail to pick up important clues for why it happens in older people generally, and even to younger people who lack those articulations. They simply never think to move in that way -- although they can. On the other hand, a very small segment of the population, train themselves to move skillfully and masterfully in those ways most don't even think is possible, and may have even been advised that such movements are dangerous and should never be done -- even while millions of people in the world may do it routinely up to the days they're still capable of doing anything.
One of the most common examples is the simple squat-sit -- done by many indigenous people in the habit of moving frequently until the day they die. On the other hand, contemporary society produces and encourages many to move as little as possible -- and even requiring the assistance of motors or others to shift them from one position to another -- they've grown so unused to moving at all, with no plan or intention of improving those capabilities from here on out the rest of their days. One would expect them to become increasingly less capable -- with no program for ensuring they maintain those capabilities and movements. The nerves making such movements possible, are no longer fired, let alone systematically exercised for improvement. Many are convinced that is even the preferred way to be -- to do as little as possible for themselves the rest of their days. Yet who is going to do it for them? Maybe their children or grandchildren, or as is becoming increasingly the case, a paid caregiver.
The furthest thought from their mind, is that they should become increasingly self-reliant and independent -- as though that is only what stupid people do -- because they have not figured out how to make everyone else do everything for them. And though such a life of idleness and uselessness are highly fashionable, as a practical matter, that is not the best way to go -- and go one surely will. So a lot of this premature demise is cultural -- and popular, rather than the best nature has evolved. It requires individuals to take it to the next level -- just as it always has been. The struggle for survival does not end at 40 or 60 -- but remains a lifelong challenge as long as each individual lives. It just becomes more individualized -- and personal.
What worked for most at 20 -- may not work for anybody at 80. It is far more likely to be the case that what works at 80, works for most at 20 -- rather than vice-versa. Ironically, it is easier to see what works at 80 than what works at 20 -- because there are fewer confounders to weed out. Participation rates conveniently weed out those who are still in the game -- from those whose best are far behind them. Of course, some still talk about their youth as the prime of their lives -- rather than their present being the summation of all their days. Obviously, that requires a wholly new orientation and meaning to our lives. Is it half over, or only half begun? That difference in attitude may be the most significant marker of the new age from the old one -- and whether life gets better, or disintegrates. Of course the last to know, will be those who should know better.
They are too full of the old knowledge -- and not the one being discovered and created. It's always been that way. The harbingers of the new, have never been embraced by the defenders of the status quo -- no matter how dysfunctional and hopeless things were. A certain death was preferred to any unknown yet to be discovered and revealed. Those are the great moments in human consciousness and evolution. Not simply more of the same in a slightly modified form. An entirely new way of being must emerge. It's always been that way. That is the evolution of life.
It's Only a Problem if You Don't Have a Solution
There will always be changes and challenges in life -- because that is the nature of life. If things never changed, then that isn't living -- so the challenge of life, is to be able to deal with those changes and challenges -- and not as the dying and disabled do, demand that things never change until they get their wishes fulfilled, soon enough.
So it is not as though the fortunate never have any challenges, but that they are good at dealing with them -- launching them onto higher and better. That is why so many, squander good fortune no matter how much they have. It is never enough -- because they will always find a way to undo their advantages. And that is why it is important and necessary to be able to discriminate and distinguish the good from the bad, and act appropriately, rather than in declaring that there are no differences in everything. Predictably, that is the surest path to disaster -- as places like San Francisco and Portland, Oregon report the follies of their ways daily.
What is the quality of life when the cost of living is astronomical while the possibilities of enjoying any fruits of their labors are zero? The smart ones leave town as soon as they recognize the pattern -- as it will be more than a lifetime for the Detroits and Baltimores of the world to turn around -- and there is no sense in wasting a good life, even if that is where one is born in. But that is the reason people move around to find their best environment and most favorable conditions for health, happiness and success.
I know the media is full of stories telling us otherwise -- but it is up to each to determine the best for oneself -- and not merely serve the ends of the most exploitative defenders of the status quo. People who move, generally do better than those who stay in one place all their lives. They get to discover the many choices and options available -- and not merely settle for whatever situation they find themselves in -- as the best of all possible worlds, if not the only one.
On the other hand, it is quite possible for one to travel the world over -- and only live the same life and do the same things no matter how different the opportunities. Such people will want to return "home" no matter how short their vacation from the only life they have known -- even planning for their next vacation while on their present one.
Obviously, such people are never truly "there" wherever they are -- but are always somewhere else. Because of that "absence," they do not see the urgency and significance of each present moment -- when the world is encountered and resolved in the actuality. They think all those problems and challenges will be resolved in some other time and place -- while we continue on doing all those things that are the problems.
In some places, that is even building massive transit systems to nowhere -- because they provide a few short-term high-paying construction jobs for the next administration to tear down. That is because the funding is available and if they don't grab it, somebody else will. So we need to look beyond the funding to see what really needs to be done -- and do that instead, even if nobody else pays us to do it. We do it for ourselves -- as our greatest good.
Obtaining maximum funding, is not the same as solving a problem. In fact, that often ensures that the problem is extended into perpetuity -- because the money is so good, it would be stupid not to take advantage of it. But then those problems grow out of control and threatens to destroy all the good with it. And so the solution lies not in the money derived from it, but other measures of success as the real tangible payoff.
How is that measured? That is the quality of life -- apart from the cost of living. An astute observer will even observe that they may be inversely related. "The best things in life are free," and it is human ingenuity that makes it so. That is the resolution of any problem -- rather than its continuance -- no matter how profitable. Obviously, that is the post-money economy/society, in which people directly produce what they value. If that is health and prosperity, that means doing what needs to be done above all else -- and not waiting to be paid by others to achieve it for oneself, because that will never happen.
Some things can only be achieved for oneself, by oneself -- and not by doing all the wrong things, and hope to be bailed out by all the others. That's not going to be a society (government) that works. Instead, people will be rewarded for all the wrong things -- and the results are obvious. Those cities become unlivable -- and the smart ones flee -- for the proverbial greener pastures. Thus the question uppermost in many people's minds, is where are those places now?
Those who truly know, are not saying -- lest they also be ruined. "Paradise" is where you don't want to be. The mass media, as usual, will always be the last to know -- dependent as they are, on asking somebody else. If they knew, they wouldn't be telling anyone else. That's not what they get paid for. Rather, somebody pays them to sell their "damaged goods."
Once we are clear on that, we can see through to the unsaid. Therein lies the truth of the matter. One has to do their own homework and research -- but has access to all the records anybody else does -- including the studies, and how they were conducted. Many things will not add up and make any sense -- but some things will -- and make the world rational and whole again. That is the process and evolution of thought, otherwise, the world seems to fall apart. It requires a higher understanding than the conventional view can fathom.
