Introduction: A Multitude of Laws
Most educated individuals have heard of God's laws (contentious, confusing, conflicting and confounding), what the law states of Gravity, what the law states of Thermodynamics, what the law states of the Land, Parkinson's law, Murphy's law and so on. The majority are named after mcdougal of a succinct observation described by the law. Laws vary from A (i.e., Aitken's law - describes how vowel length is conditioned by environment) to Z (Zipf's law - a linguistic observation that the few words are utilized often but most are used rarely).
As the wellness field grows and evolves, perhaps it's time for a REAL wellness law-or many such laws. If that's the case, you will want to associate as many as possible with one's own name?
Grandiose, perhaps, but if I don't get it done, someone else surely will and that individual just might produce a mess of it. Wellness in corporate America and elsewhere in the world is described and presented in wildly inappropriate and dysfunctional ways; you will want to eradicate the babble with a couple of transformative REAL wellness laws? Such laws, if they make sense and lead humanity to sounder thinking, might well contribute modestly to improved health and life outcomes.
By the way, one does not have to formulate a law that's named in his/her honor or even know about a law to be afflicted with and to live in accordance with it. We've all complied with Galileo and Newton's laws about gravity, prior to we became alert to them.
Anyone who would like a law to bear his or her name should present some credentials. Mine are modest, simple but adequate for the honor. As of this writing, I've written 15 books, posted above a thousand essays at Seekwellness.com/wellness, 74 eight to twelve-page hard copy wellness reports commencing in 1984, 657 weekly electronic REAL wellness newsletters, at the very least a thousand lecture presentations in a dozen countries while spending 43 years (since 1970) dreaming about the methods to and odds of vastly improved environments and cultures for greater health and happiness.
Which has led to this moment-the time when I offer the universe Ardell's two laws of REAL wellness.
Ardell's 1st Law of REAL Wellness: Random Chance, Natural Selection and Contingencies Trump All Else
Life's largest events often follow random, seemingly inconsequential small actions which we remain unaware.
Secular rational freethinkers place stock in knowledge, commitment, reason and persistence in shaping and fine-tuning lifestyle habits. We embrace perspectives and behaviors on matters existential and otherwise made to render positive states of enjoyment and well-being. We consciously seek happiness, freedom, physical fitness, love, mutually satisfying relationships and multiple skills. What matters most, what affects our successes and outcomes, appears more or less to be under our field of control. Alas, this functional and preferred way of thinking is essentially illusory. You can find three a lot more consequential realities not under your influence in any way. Furthermore, these three factors render the standard and duration of your existence unpredictable and unknowable. They are: 1) random chance or fortune; 2) natural selection; and 3) contingencies.
Ardell's 2nd Law of REAL Wellness: In accordance with Ardell's 1st Law of REAL wellness, other REAL wellness laws don't total much.
Taking into consideration the immense black hole power of the initial law, additional such laws play a modest role in efforts to shape life quality and longevity.
But, that doesn't obviate the case for added laws of REAL wellness. The truth is that most of the eponymous laws on the books are useless to many people but are yet of interest and even helpful for a few. I'm in my eighth decade; I'm not alert to any occasion when I could have benefited from an awareness of Aitken's law or Zipf's law. I heard of neither until I began the study with this essay. Ditto a great deal of other laws.
In accordance with the 1st law above, this law and the ones that follow don't total much. Nevertheless, I hereby give you a few more, just the same. They can't hurt.
Ardell's 3rd Law of REAL Wellness: Finding your passion is okay but keep going-become great at it.
Since few folks enjoy royal lineage or handsome trusts that assure first-class travel in life with little if any significance of labor, we should choose trades of sorts to cover our way through life. Thus, we are smart to adopt a long-term goal of studying and laboring at a trade that'll prove enjoyable and satisfying, along with properly remunerative.
When this challenge is met, your way of earning an income won't seem like work.
Thus the 3rd law - master a passion. Start with following varied interests and, after years and years or even decades of trial and error, settle into one of them, immersing yourself in it.
Be somewhat realistic but guard against premature realism-while not everyone can get elected, take the films or play in the NBA or NFL, a select few can. Focus on which excites talents and gifts. Devote enough time required to qualify for Carnegie Hall (i.e., practice, practice, practice-take account of Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours rule).
The target listed here is that sooner or later in your career somebody, somewhere, for some good or strange reason, will probably pay you to accomplish everything you enjoy doing-because you are so spectacular at whatever it is you've honed to a level of artful mastery.
Robert Frost expressed the thought of this law in his poem "Two Tramps in Mud Time:"
My goal in life would be to unite my vocation
with my avocation.
As my two eyes make one in sight.
For only where love and need are one
And work is play for mortal stakes
Could be the deed ever really done
For heaven's and future's sake.
Ardell's 4th Law of REAL Wellness: Safer to chase after fun than to flee from pain.
Forget an ounce of prevention. That could indeed be worth a pound of cure, but a grain of REAL wellness may be worth a huge amount of prevention. Prevention is so old school-it's vintage medical thinking focused upon avoiding negative outcomes. Furthermore, there's no fun in working whilst not to see a poor outcome.
As opposed to preventing something, pursue very good results via proactive initiatives that amuse and satisfy. REAL wellness initiatives guided by reason, exuberance, athleticism and liberty tend to be more likely to be exciting and enjoyable. Such efforts will reinforce good intentions far a lot more than waiting around for negative states not that occurs because of preventive strategies!
Naturally, SOME prevention is good. Birth control prevention is good, disease prevention is good-you obtain the idea.
Ardell's 5th Law of REAL Wellness: Scrutinize the role you played in any scene, good or bad, and make adjustments.
Make personal responsibility your default setting. immigrants Yes, initially it now is easier, cheaper and easier the culprit, excuse, deny and/or ignore responsibility than to embrace it. Such are the present default settings generally in most cultures, including our own. In the long or even medium range, however, it is healthier, more satisfying and more effective to assume at the very least some extent of responsibility. This method enables you to make adjustments independent of actions by others. Your own actions will be the surest steps to supporting your interests.
Ardell's 6th Law of REAL Wellness: Dead, bloated rhino equivalents will be the staff of life.
All areas of REAL wellness aren't likely to be equally important for everyone. We're all quite different in so many ways, though we are alike in lots of ways, as well. But, our circumstances, resources, capacities and such vary significantly. Among the most crucial elements for enjoying life should be the connection with plentiful, an active interest in and life-long openness to new meanings and a commitment to and maintenance of an amazingly fit body.
Therefore, along with mastering a knowledge and acceptance of the fact of Ardell's 1st Law of REAL Wellness, produce a point of always trying to appear on the bright side of life. If the latter seems difficult, take comfort from what expressed by the mother of Woody Allen's character in Annie Hall. Having just read that the universe is expanding, Allen's character laments that he's too worried to accomplish his homework. "Someday it will break apart and that could be the end of everything."
"But," his Mother snaps, "you're here in Brooklyn! Brooklyn isn't expanding."
