It Doesn't Take a Genius

It is very easy to design an exercise program that people can't -- or won't do.  It doesn't take a genius to do that.  The genius lies in designing an exercise program that someone can and will do -- every day of their lives, and not just when they feel good enough to do it.  Obviously, the greatest value of any exercise program, will be one that can change one from not wanting to move, to moving because it makes them feel better -- rather than requiring one to feel at their best to even try.

Yet that is the mindset of most exercise regimens -- that people give up at the first opportunity and challenge to do so.  So obviously, the barriers to entry must be low -- and one is moving before one knows it -- and the resistance (fatigue) builds.  And then beyond that, many add on greater layers of complexity -- that all but the most able are capable of -- which of course proves the superiority of the instructor (strongest), but eliminates most of the weak and less abled from further participation -- all in the misguided notion that it is actually making the weak, strong, or would, if they merely persisted and overcame their limitations and objections.

And rather than thoughtful and educated people realizing those errors in wishful thinking -- they devise even more difficult and tortuous things that only they can do, to prove the superiority of their indoctrination, and people give them the benefit of the doubt that it makes sense at all to proceed further down that path of a well-proven failure.

Of course, they will argue, if everyone did the impossible (could fly), they would be in much better shape -- and more fit to take on the even more preposterous and ambitious.  They may even designate and certify themselves as "experts," allowing them to charge exorbitant amounts for such advice.  These fads and madness may even rise in popularity until all those who can do it are aboard -- before moving on to the next "challenge" -- until exhausting all their time, energy and resources, and realizing there is no end in sight, while receiving very little benefits in return.

But most of them, are not used to thinking about returns and results because their conditioning is to believe that expenditure alone is enough -- and when one runs out of that unlimited resource, then one simply doesn't get up, and suffers the decades in decline and deterioration to their final end.  In such a case, it should become obvious that just a little will go a long way -- and running marathons and setting a new Guinness record is not a motivation that simply picking oneself off the floor as many times as one needs to, is sufficient to maintain that viability all one's days -- while the fast and the furious, are whiling the rest of theirs, with hip, knee, heart replacements -- while immobilized in their beds and wheelchairs for the remainder of their days.

That is the simple, stark truth of the matter.  If one can't move, move the easiest thing possible -- and that will always be, the minimal response possible -- invariably at the smallest joint/muscle for doing so.  That is the realization and understanding that makes greater movement possible -- and not starting with the greatest recruitment of the largest muscles -- familiarly known as the core.  Movement at the core, gets one nowhere -- because those muscles are not designed for movement but for stability.  The muscles at the extreme distances from the core -- are those designed for movement, articulation -- and expression.  There is where all the senses and sensibilities are located -- which is the genius in placing them where they can be maximally mobilized.

You don't want your nose, eyes and ears at your rectum.  But increasingly, as one does less and less, the only movement they think possible, and are capable of anymore, is that movement at that focal point, which they now refer as the "movement."  That is the sad regression from movements and expressions at their extremities -- which necessarily implies all the intervening supporting structures and functions -- but not vice-versa.  With that fundamental flaw in understanding, doom is a certainty -- because that is not the design and function of a body in good health, understanding and functioning.

That is where one would measure functionality and health -- and not at the vital organs of the heart and lungs -- which are the given and constants, and not the variables.  All the other things one can do, are the variables -- that one can do, but to think that all that is necessary to optimize health is to directly affect the heart rate and breathing, is wholly misguided.  That results as a response to everything else one is doing.  That is to say, that one does not get their heart rate and breathing up, in order to run a marathon, or do anything, but that rise results from the effort in doing anything -- quite naturally, as a response to what is needed.

If one mistakes the effect for the cause, then serious damage will result -- and at the least, be unproductive -- so that one no longer bothers to try. That is what insightful people have called wrong understanding -- and more of it is not the solution -- but the cause of the problem.  However, the right understanding, produces right effort.  So that is where one has to begin -- and not arrive only at the end. Obviously in that way, one will never arrive at the right outcome -- beginning with the wrong understanding -- no matter how much one puts into any effort.  It is not the effort but the understanding that ultimately matters -- and results.

Creating One's Own "Paradise"

No man is an island unto themselves; they are part of a larger environment (context) -- that either fosters health, or is toxic to well-being.  But what those conditions are to different people -- varies somewhat, and sometimes significantly.  Some prefer it colder, while others like it hot.  Some can thrive at high altitudes, while others might perish -- even at the thought.  So those latter people identify, what they feel are those conditions that make them thrive.  Some like the uncertainty of the weather, while others prefer the same -- not only in the weather, but in all things.  If each could identify and choose their own perfect environment, there would be no problem, but invariably, there are those who would wish to impose their preferences, on everybody else -- no exceptions! -- and that is the root of most conflicts.

However in this day and age, we have the capabilities for each to personalize their own environment -- given the general one we all start off with.  It may be as fundamental as the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we consume -- and the freedom and choices in each of those considerations.  Further along, we could maintain that environment in fully functioning order and cleanliness -- or think those things never need to be considered, and the condition of their deterioration and degradation, is beyond human intervention -- and what the gods alone determine.

So fundamentally, this is a problem of understanding -- and from that, the proper actions naturally flow out of them.  But with the wrong understanding, or lack of understanding and the need for it, problems arise and worsen -- and one feels powerless to do anything about them.  Those are invariably the challenges of each time and place -- before progress can resume, and eventually leap forward.  If only the familiar problems keep getting worse, it is seldom that more of the familiar and well-accepted solution is the answer -- and most likely, that understanding is the problem -- that has to be re-examined, because merely continuing in that manner, is disastrous -- while another way might not be. 

Logically, we must find another way -- that doesn't perpetuate and worsen the problem -- as the only effective and reasonable answer.  That is particularly the crisis of the homeless in the major cities -- where it is still thought, that simply failing to recognize the problem and the needs, will make it go away -- rather than providing and ensuring the basic necessities for everyone as much as possible.  That would be ensuring the necessary hygiene for all those sharing that environment -- even before they have a secure place to sleep and store their possessions.  That is the quality of life (and environment) that must be maintained -- before all other considerations.

That is even the primary reason for securing shelter -- for all the other reasons.  A person ensuring that quality of personal hygiene and health, is doing their part to create a better environment for all.  Beyond that, a person can sleep anywhere, or eat their meals under most conditions -- but a person with poor hygiene, degrades that environment for all -- and will not allow normal proceedings to continue, until they are addressed, and dealt with definitively.    But we don't have to rediscover and recreate the wheel for every such instance.

In most cases, those facilities already exist -- but are not given access to because there is no manpower to oversee them -- in the erroneous belief that if public hygiene stations are not provided -- or are inaccessible (locked), the people who need them, won't "go" -- or simply go away.  As attractive as the thought, it won't happen that way.  People who need to "go," will go regardless of whether they are provided the facilities for doing so -- or not, and so for the benefit of the environment (society), it's in their own best interest, to see that it is disposed of properly -- and in safety.

It's a public health problem and not a public housing problem -- foremost.  It's a universal problem -- but those who have a place to go, usually don't go out for that reason -- which inhibits their mobility.  That skews the populace and public places in favor of the dispossessed -- who now take them over entirely -- promoting the notion that it is less safe to be out in public spaces.  That is now the plight of most urban environments.

But those who remain home, are not home-free by any means.  Often, those personal environments may be as polluted as the outdoor environment they have less control over.  Many do not think they need nor have the control over their own personal environments -- thinking doors and windows are enough to keep toxins and pollutants out.  Therein lies the greater problem -- in not realizing that they can take extra-ordinary measures to ensure their personal paradise -- to a much greater extent than the average person thinks possible, or nearly thinks about at all.  That personal space, can also be degraded even with the best of intentions and care.

The problem is that mold and mildew grows in virtually every home -- to which are added, pet dander, cigarette smoking, water leaks and flooding, no ventilation and heating sufficient to maintain a healthy environment.  Most places don't have air purification systems -- beginning with the microbial masks warn in many contemporary environments to assure quality products and services.  Does that mean one should be paranoid about these things?  I feel more confident and assured when my surgeon or dentist wears a microbial mask -- as well as when I see a chef wearing one.  And then in today's precision manufacturing business (processes), it is rare to see one without such a barrier to contamination.

I've found that when I feel a cold or other respiratory symptom coming on, wearing an antimicrobial mask, seems to be a nearly instant, reliable cure -- as long as I take that precaution, and maintain that practice for as long as I think necessary.  There doesn't seem to be a downside for doing so.  Even the cheapest of these masks, claim a 99% effective rate at eliminating bacteria, fungi and allergens -- while those with an added layer of activated carbon, eliminate most of the bothersome odors -- including second-hand smoke. 

This effectiveness of purification -- gives a whole new meaning to the concept of clean, fresh, pure air -- and is already being widely adopted in areas notorious for the most polluted air in the world.  Think what it can do for a relatively clean environment.  It's a huge difference between eliminating 99% of the pollutants -- and not -- in the very air that one breathes, that it would seem to be the most effective strategy one could adopt to bulletproof oneself from most common irritants -- including just bad odors.

The question for most is whether it is worth the extra nominal expense and inconvenience of wearing such an enhancement.  But it is nothing really new -- in that some of the most traditional societies have long standing adoption of such methods to protect against harsh climatic conditions -- ie. dusty, arid environments.  Or the extremely cold.  We largely don't think we need such devices anymore because of modern heating and cooling systems -- but if that were enough, we wouldn't see them in operating or manufacturing rooms either.  They are effective up to a point -- but nowhere near what can be easily achieved with this addition -- obviously.

Some things are as simple and obvious as that.  What would you do to live to 100 -- without all the usual afflictions one has come to accept as inevitable and inescapable?  It's in the air -- in the environment we live in, which is integrally, ourselves.