The Freedom To Be

 Before we discuss sickness, one should inquire into what is health -- and not merely presume that everything one does is right -- or wrong, without first considering, what is health?  For many, especially in the health care professions, that means enabling sickness and dysfunction -- which makes them vulnerable to all kinds of catastrophic events and challenges.  The presumption is, that the way we already are -- is normal, or healthy -- when the truth of most lives, is that it is mostly a deteriorating condition, beginning with as soon as they reach their full maturity -- and then it is all downhill from there.

Seldom does one heed the information that they might simply be doing things wrong -- or badly, while even thinking they are living optimal lives -- when for many, if not most, that is obviously not true -- if one thing after another, seems to go wrong, and eventually, nothing seems to work right -- forevermore.  Even most exercise -- thought to be healthy unequivocally, is often what causes that damage and injury, and if not recovered, leads to permanent dysfunction and disability.

As often as not, ceasing one's normal activities, results and allows a full recovery from injurious efforts.  That phenomenon is experienced by nearly everyone in hard training -- who make most of their gains in a brief experiment that is not sustainable for longer periods of time.  That is the familiar boom and bust cycles of training -- particularly notable in competitive bodybuilding activities -- in which those short term gains are achieved by fanatical obsession for short periods of time, doing everything possible and even dangerous, and after 6 weeks, experiencing a breakdown of some sort.  A natural break from those activities becomes imperative and inevitable -- but the more desirable model, is to be able to do something and be capable daily, when one needs to.

Thus like in achieving wealth, one progresses slowly, steadily and relentlessly -- rather than the boom and bust cycles requiring frequent breaks and timeouts for "recovery" -- which then seems to be most of the time, and eventually, all the time.  Frequently it is noted, that one cannot even do -- what they formerly were the best in the world at doing.  Many end up prematurely dead or disabled by their practice -- and for some, it is inevitable, and they would have it no other way.  It is said of such people, that they died doing what they loved to do -- which in the minds of many, is the perfect scenario.

However, even better, is knowing when that threshold and margin for error is not breached, and one can safely live out a long life enjoying all those things they like to do -- without an overly premature end.  That is the frontier that needs to be explored, expressed, manifested -- and not simply living in fear of doing anything, and taking any chances.  That would not be healthy -- and the difference in outright dysfunction and disability, is difficult to determine.  

Thus individuals, as well as societies, often swing a pendulum from one extreme to the other, trying to fine-tune the balance -- but never presuming what those ultimate limits are -- until they actually find out.  That is largely what life is about -- and not simply repeating a pattern or protocol mapped out by the so-called "experts," claiming to have perfect knowledge of such things.  Most only know what they know, but the far more valuable thing to know, is what they don't know, and are eager to find out.  That is the real miracle of life.

Unfortunately, most of those claiming to know it all, are more intent on profiting off of that claim -- rather than finding out whether what they know, is truly worth knowing.  That is often compounded by another's attempts to claim that knowledge or any other, as their own invention and authorship -- which is the root of authority and authoritarianism.  The latter, is the claim to know everything that can be known -- and all others must be brutally suppressed, censored, intimidated.  That observation, should be the premise in the study of every subject -- as the limits of the known, and what is essential to explore.

We always live in such times -- and so the greatest books ever written -- is invariably about that timeless story.  The best one can know, is what they don't know -- and will then embark to find out, otherwise, one is too full of their own knowledge, and never bothers anymore to even question that what they know, is worth knowing.  Far more can be known, than can be applied practically and productively.  The rest is sound and fury -- signifying nothing of importance.  In this, "many are called, but few are chosen."  One mistakes what they know, for all that can be known -- which is the greatest catastrophe of all -- in every field and endeavor.

One doesn't want to be "that guy" -- so full of their own knowledge -- that destroys civilizations and societies because they cannot allow that they do not know everything -- as though that alone, is their exclusive jurisdiction, and all others must be eliminated.  That is the only way they can assure their own victories -- and are interested in no other.  Such people are endlessly engaged in turf wars -- as the only thing they know what to do -- and it does not matter how many others have to be "sacrificed" to prove their point.  

That is the perpetually self-aggrandizing ego -- devoid of any humor and perspective -- who thinks that only their way, is the only way -- and there is no room for any discussion about that.  That is always the danger to a civil society -- that a few coerce the others into believing only their way.  That is also a deranged mind -- who thinks others exist only for their own self-aggrandizement.  

So real health is also this relationship with everybody and all else -- not to be employed ruthlessly only for the benefit of the one -- even if all the others must be sacrificed.  It is not the most good for the greatest number -- but for only the one, at all costs.  Such costs are regarded and justified as a necessary means to the end -- and morphs quickly into the necessary evils to those ends -- which they will be the exclusive judge of that.

Such absolute power corrupts absolutely -- and doesn't matter what their station in life is.  In fact, it is invariably an inverse relationship -- of the least, feeling fully justified and entitled to their delusions.  They think life is only about winning and losing -- and never about just being -- as fully as each individual is capable of doing.  That is a mind that is always comparing and competing with everyone else -- and can never recognize that life is not that brutal, relentless and endless struggle against everything and everybody else.

That outlook destroys everything in its path.  It builds nothing -- for any future; it argues only with the past -- as though that can change anything.

They Don't Know What They Don't Know

 Almost everybody recognizes that the person who claims to know all the "right" answers, usually hasn't even begun to ask the right questions -- or they would not be the foremost "expert" on why things go wrong.  In fact, if they really knew what they were talking about, there wouldn't be a problem -- and getting worse because of what they "know."  The Buddhists would call that the "right understanding," from which the "right effort" naturally flows -- because with the truly right understanding, it would be impossible to do anything else.

That is like experiencing a hot stove the first time -- which ensures that there won't be a second, or subsequent efforts to remind oneself not to touch a hot stove.  But it is another matter entirely, to find out whether a stove is hot or not -- and not assume that it is -- or not, because of what they "thought" they knew.  In such cases, they have to actually find out -- and it is not enough just to know that one should, or should not have left it on.  One's entire life and future may depend on it.

It doesn't matter what the experts say you should have done -- or not done, because the only thing that matters, is what one did.  This metaphor is a lot like what we encounter every day -- and hope to learn to get it right -- unfailingly, as early as possible in life, because not to, has disastrous and deadly consequences.  That may be driving the wrong way on a one-way street for the first time, but hopefully, not the last time.

Life has many such lessons -- of which we hope to know better -- before it is too late.  But that is what life is mostly about -- this learning from day one -- to do one thing, rather than another -- but even in the best of circumstances and precautions, bad things can happen, and that possibility exists, as long as we're alive.  Ultimately, everyone runs out of chances -- and nobody lives forever.  One just hopes before then, to make the best of all one's chances -- before one simply runs out of chances.

In a life of one hundred years, that might be doing and experiencing many things -- or just one thing, repeated every day.  The end result will be the same, so it is largely up to every individual to decide which of those lifestyles one adopts -- with their varying consequences.  The same outcomes, will not be guaranteed for everyone -- but a fair and enlightened society, will attempt to see that everyone starts as equally as possible -- but after that, there surely will be a different outcome for each.  That is life -- in every shape and form of it.

All do not fare equally well from that beginning -- while a few, will even manage to begin many times over -- and get very good at it -- because they practice, and do not settle for only one start, and one race -- and no second chances.  Thus the skilled practitioner of anything, is usually one who has practiced more than all the others -- even to the point that it is no longer practice for such individuals but simply what they do -- until it is so automatic, that it would be impossible to imagine them not doing it unfailingly.

That can be a sport -- but that is just one game among many others one hopes to master in their lifetime -- at least well enough for them to feel comfortable moving on to the next level of challenge and growth.  That entails starting all over again -- learning as though one recognizes they do not know rather than being stunted in their feeling, that they already know all there is to know -- and everyone who does not know what they do, is an idiot.  Usually it is true, that those who know less than they do, are idiots -- but that doesn't make them smart.

Such people think that because everyone else does not know what they know -- that they must be fools, and seldom realize, others may actually know a lot more, and that is the reason that they don't know what one does.  That is the presumption of people who fail to master the right understanding -- and are mystified as to why everybody else does not do the same things they do -- with such catastrophic results.  Of course, we call such people, "dysfunctional" because they fail to understand that one thing is related to every other -- and life does not happen in a test tube free of such variables -- most of which are unrecognized, as well as unmeasured.

But just because they aren't, doesn't mean it may not be even more significant to the outcomes -- so intent was the experimenter, in proving what he wanted to prove, and would not accept any other.  Unfortunately, much of what we know, is predetermined in that way.  That is not science -- but merely authority -- like the Pharisees and Scribes of every time and epoch.  What they say, is what they say, and there should be no other -- by law or custom.  Those who disagree, should be thrown into prison, or very publicly be crucified -- so nobody else is tempted to follow in those footsteps.

Who those will be, is usually taken upon themselves -- to be the exclusive judge, jury and executioners -- although the latter they will usually cede to others, to make it seem more legitimate, and the will of the people -- whom they should tell what to think.  Even better if they can convince the people that they thought of it themselves.

But not everybody can think for themselves -- although all will flatter themselves that they do.  They will say that is what the science or evidence says -- but never speak of any particulars, so one can determine if that is true or not.  The science simply says, or the evidence is overwhelming, but what that is specifically, is never forthcoming -- presumably because it would be too difficult for anybody less qualified to understand.  But that is what real science is -- that even a perfect fool could understand, and not just self-proclaimed and anointed geniuses of our times.

Long before that authority is challenged and questioned, a better understanding is being suppressed -- usually because it is not as profitable -- though it may have greater benefits in the long run, and the bigger picture.  What is actually more desired, is infinitely greater health, and not simply, more and more expensive health care -- to make the vested interests richer.  The greater benefit, is actually to have healthier populations who minimally need acute expensive care -- for those with multiple chronic conditions that plague them all their lives -- and are never cured.

The obviously better answer is that everyone takes better care of their own health -- rather than a few specialists who take care of all.  That is not an efficient way of achieving those objectives -- just like old academia, where a few pioneer the knowledge for all.  That was the old model -- prior to the 21st century, when now everybody has all the tools for research -- as well as publication.  That's a hard one to give up -- for the entrenched status quo.  It's not likely to be discovered by committee, either.  More often than not, the great discoveries come by serendipity -- and merely paying attention.  In such a state of mind, one sees more than what they are trained to see -- which are not simply aspects of reality, but the whole of reality.

But if we only go about it the same way that hasn't worked before, any advances will be merely illusory.  It is only when the mind is totally silent, without the limits of its prior knowledge, that something new comes into being.  And that may be exactly what we want -- and not the failed prototype in one more manifestation.  So when we have a disease that only kills off the unhealthy, one should ask, is anything wrong with that? -- or is that even a problem?  That is the way life works.

The greater question is, how do we get healthier? -- because that is the solution -- and that works for everything else in life.  We need to drastically improve health -- and not just prevent the sick from dying.  That is a real solution.