They Just Don’t Get It

Virtually every mainstream media account of the justification for personal physical improvement, seems to be a quantitative rationalization rather than a qualitative one. The major advantage of being in peak physical condition is not that it adds five years at the end of one’s life -- but that it greatly expands the possibilities and capabilities of the present moment. And in enhancing one’s prospects and successes in whatever one is doing now, that success improves one’s chances for survival -- in the many unforeseen ways. The greatest predictor of future success (performance), is present success (performance). Too many people fixate on the ultimate goal -- rather than just simply manifesting the best of all they can be, in each humble moment.

Then, looking back on one’s life, he will marvel that he never could have gotten where he is now by careful and deliberate planning -- but the fulfillment of each moment and task, brought him to where he could never have imagined -- beginning in that journey. That is more likely to be the typical success profile than a person who decides in kindergarten, exactly how his life will turn out. One will realize in that way, there is no possibility for the evolvement of a greater appreciation and understanding of the world in living life, and therefore, such success, though all goes as plan, is really a monumental failure and retardation of one’s greatest possibilities.

The 21st century life is this critical and quantum leap in understanding that is not merely the continuum of the past. Those are the moments of evolution and real progress in any life -- a break from the limiting patterns of the familiar and predictable past. And that’s why “science” has difficulty with this understanding -- because traditional science is about predictability and not the art of creating the new. In the moment of invention and innovation, the bonds of the past are broken -- and once they are, everything has changed, so there is no duplicating the results as though nothing has changed.

It is what the people of literature call the tour de force, a serendipitous journey through life. Everything that person does, breaks new ground for himself, and therefore, humanity. It is a one of a kind event, often not duplicated even in that same person’s life, because he continues to evolve. Such a person is always conquering new worlds for himself. And to live with that level of stimulation and challenge, creates a vastly different life experience from that of a person whose entire existence is characterized by unrelenting routine and predictability.

Under those conditions, deterioration is the prevailing life experience. The senses become dull and the ability to discriminate and respond vanish so that the prospects for future survival diminish with each passing moment. That energy level is palpable and affects everyone, as well as the outcome of any event.

The ancients described that study as the essential life force. It is as much psychological and mental as it is purely physical -- because it is about growth in all the aspects of life, to be significant and powerful. That’s not an easy concept for minds that think that all is achieved, just by categorizing, labeling and measuring everything into neat little boxes.