I'm Sorry

If I offend, I am sorry.

If I bring awareness, I am glad.

If I seem angry, I am not.

Personally, there are two choices for me in living life.

1. Apathetic life.

The life of apathy is one that is uninspired by virtue, and content with mediocrity. It means taking the road most traveled filled with compulsive anxieties and fixations that are directed by biology, societal patterns, and habits that enslave us to follow our emotions irrespective of how inappropriate, destructive, or self serving as they may be.

If the masses follow…then so be it.

2. Passionate life.

To live the passionate life is to intensely move forward on the road less traveled with intention and resolve. It is demanding consistency in what you profess, and continuity with what you do. It is not leading by example so that others will admire you…It is leading by example because you can’t imagine living any other way. The passionate life will often seem aggressive or pessimistic by traditional standards…but that is only because traditional standards cannot hold up to the unyielding expectations that passionate people demand, and expect, in “every” area of their lives.

If the masses are uncomfortable by it…then so be it.

Now you may say that there is a way to be both…But I would propose that passion with apathy is like fire with ice…eventually the fire will melt the ice that puts out the flame and creates luke warm water. You either are... or you are not. 

 "I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence... "

                                                                                    Frederick Douglass

 I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die.  For the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It’s a sort of splendid torch which I’ve got to hold up for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations”

                                                                                    George Bernard Shaw

How Do We Stop A Tsunami?

I have been very fortunate over the past week to be part of an intellectual discussion with one of the most respected U.S. Doctors in the fitness industry.

At the beginning of our discussion, I used my favorite allegorical story of Plato’s Charioteer to describe our neurological dilemma concerning impulsive behaviors.

If you are not familiar with the story, please read my blog regarding appetites.

http://kellyhitchcock.blogspot.com/2011/07/appetites.html

This is how our discussion began:

Kelly: How do you stop a stampede? (Stampede… referring to 68% of US adults being overweight or obese)

Dr:  “You can’t stop a stampede.  But both biology and a stampede can be guided and redirected.”  

The Dr. also stated, “it’s like using judo…you don’t stop a punch…you redirect it.”

The Docs insightful comments really made me reconsider my position.

I think the stampede analogy I used does a colossal disservice to the state of affairs that our country is experiencing.

Maybe a better question would have been, “How do we stop a Tsunami?”

What is a Tsunami?

The principal generation mechanism (or cause) of a tsunami is the displacement of a substantial volume of water or perturbation (agitation) of the sea. This displacement of water is usually attributed to landslides, volcanic eruptions, glacier calving or Tectonic shifts in the sea floor.

I am not aware of any known solution to stopping, controlling, or diverting the path of a Tsunami…other than just seeking higher ground.

Are we experiencing Tsunami in America?

The principal generation mechanism of an American Tsunami (i.e. obesity) is the overwhelming lack of impulse control and the apathetic perturbation (lack of concern to be alarmed…indifference to agitation) of our current social structure. The deterioration of impulse control is usually attributed to the supply and demand conundrum that accompanies a “highly evolved” (sarcasm) society.

Many of the paradoxical characteristics of this type of failed social structure are: 

~ Easy life begat sedentary lifestyle and a loss of fitness 

~ Abundance of food begat overweight health dilemmas

~ Boredom begat misguided/irrational anxiety and an unfulfilled purpose in life

~ Social network (i.e. 24 hour TV…news and reality shows, My Space, Face Book, Dating sites, etc.) begat false sense of reality and delusions of adequacy…24 hour limbic (impulsive) stimulation

Tsunami warning

In 2010 most surveys show that 68% of adult Americas are over weight or obese. 30% of school aged children fall into this same category. This is the first time in our species history that many parents are predicted to out live their children. 50% of marriages end in divorce and our country is trillions of dollars in debt. This has been/is our Tsunami warning.

The Aftermath

With great sadness, I propose we cannot stop, control, or use judo when it comes to the path of an American Tsunami. The tectonic shift in our social structure floor has thrust upon us a wave of addictions that can only be surfed by another impulsive action which ultimately brings us crashing back into the shore.

Those who have moved to a higher ground will only be able to set back and watch the cyclical destruction that comes from the societal undertow of a compulsive unrestrained life…slowly pulling people back into the sea of despair.

You have to die before you can be resurrected   

A new day will come and it will be our chance to do it all over again. What will we do?

Will we reconstruct our traditional society emphasizing the pleasure that results from the excesses of power, fame and the trivial pursuits in life?

Or will we create a new society that values virtue and emphasizes the absence of pain that comes with a life lived in moderation?

What will we do?

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”