Doing All the Right Things

Most people will readily admit that they are not perfect -- and have not lived a perfect life -- but that should not stop them from trying.  Those imperfect moments accumulate over a lifetime to produce what we know as aging -- the failure or inability to respond appropriately to all the challenges and opportunities life brings.  Bad things don't just happen, and neither does good things.  They require some effort on our part, some action, some involvement on our part -- and not just somebody else, some god, who is responsible for everything turning out the way they have -- and over a lifetime, there's nothing one could have done at any point -- to turn things around, and alter the outcome of what they feel is inevitable -- and fated.

That is the usual regard we have for "aging," rather than the much more state-of-the-art realization that is the accumulation of all our past deeds, words and thoughts -- and we could have done it better, and that was the whole point.  At no point should we have given up and stopped trying -- to do one's best.  However, that does not mean that one has to bench press, squat and deadlift more than they ever had before, and in fact, continuing to think that way, is a well-proven failure -- that one must find another way -- even if they have to create it themselves.

What they can do -- can be anything.  It doesn't have to be what everybody else is doing -- to disastrous effect.  Obviously, exercise that is impossible, difficult or painful to do, is not the answer to the age-old problems of why people fail.  It flat out doesn't work no matter how much of it one does -- until finally they simply give up in despair, and then give up on everything.  One certainly is entitled to find out what works -- if for nobody else but oneself, especially when following the herd, never delivers the results as promised.

It's not illegal to do what works -- and hasn't been previously sanctioned by the governing bodies who claim exclusive jurisdiction on such matters -- and in fact, that they own the turf.  How that came about is anybody's guess -- but usually it is to those who presume that authority, and nobody thinks to challenge it.

However, when many of its best advocates and acolytes are dropping dead prematurely, one is right to question whether that is a fate one wants for themselves.  What is the bigger picture objective?  For most, that is living as long as possible in the best health possible -- and everything else is a secondary, or moot concern.  That seems to imply everything else.  A momentary and fleeting best is usually lost in the greater scheme of things.

Successful longterm investing is the same way -- rewarding only if it lasts -- and not simply making a fortune to lose a fortune just as quickly.  That is the siren call of those promising they can make one a quick fortune -- but not necessarily so that one can walk away from the casino with that fortune.  "Many are called, but few are chosen."  That is the plight and quandary of modern life.  Easy come, but easy go -- and where the wheel stops, may leave a lot with less than they started out with.  So the quick gains, are not the point -- but a lifetime of sustained improvement is what is life-changing.

There may have been a time when life was short, nasty and brutal, when one had to grab each spoil as though it might be their last -- but in a different time, that orientation may serve them ill -- except as a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Yes, they win, but don't live long enough to enjoy any of it.  That was the fate of the original Marathon runner -- who announced that the Greeks had prevailed, and promptly died -- and was celebrated thereafter because he was no longer among them.  We don't necessarily have to be that guy.

Nor are similar sacrifices required for the benefit of everybody else anymore.  People don't have to be thrown into the volcano to appease the gods.  Communities no longer have to enforce rigid conformity to ensure their continued survival -- or encourage development only in one ideal for survival, which was invariably who could tolerate the most pain, torture and suffering -- even if inflicted upon themselves.  Rather, the healing of oneself became the road to personal salvation and resurrection.

If that is the case, it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks they ought to be doing; they can simply do what works -- as self-evident proof that it works.  Everybody else can continue with what is obviously not working -- but they are compelled to do -- and think that is all there is.  The suppression of any other alternatives is not brutal, but just as effective -- that one wouldn't even think of it.  That would be that exercise can and should be easy -- in order for it to be possible to do all one's life -- with no reservations and limitations -- because it is the doing that is the magic, and not the theory and explanations that don't work.

As in the investing example, it is not necessary to understand the why -- only the what.  The why is a separation and division from the reality and actuality of the matter -- and serves no purpose.  If one gets the desirable results each and every time, it is not necessary to have a why -- apart from the what is.  It is not like one is advising one to do something dangerous and difficult, but quite the opposite -- doing the possible as the necessary.  And in that doing, is the manifestation of that possibility and reality.

One is not asking anyone to do 100 pushups or 100 pullups -- but only what they can do, for 100 repetitions.  It can be a movement of their own design -- and purpose.  Doing that everyday, will make them good at doing that -- and there is no other action (movement) that is more important to do.  It is as simple as that -- and the longer one lives, the more they realize that.  That is the integration of the mind and body -- that is the resistance.