Introduction: A Great number of Laws
Most educated individuals have heard about God's laws (contentious, confusing, conflicting and confounding), regulations of Gravity, regulations of Thermodynamics, regulations of the Land, Parkinson's law, Murphy's law and so on. Most are named after the writer 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 a few words are used often but the majority are used rarely).
Whilst the wellness field grows and evolves, perhaps it's time for a REAL wellness law-or many such laws. If that's the case, why not associate as many as possible with one's own name?
Grandiose, perhaps, but if I don't do it, another person surely will and that individual may just create a mess of it. Wellness in corporate America and elsewhere in the world is described and presented in wildly inappropriate and dysfunctional ways; why not eradicate the babble with several transformative REAL wellness laws? Such laws, should they seem sensible 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 as well as be aware of a law to be afflicted with and to call home in respect with it. We've all complied with Galileo and Newton's laws about gravity, well before we became alert to them.
Anyone who desires a law to bear their name should present some credentials. Mine are modest, simple but adequate for the honor. Around this writing, I have written 15 books, posted well over one 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 least one thousand lecture presentations in several countries while spending 43 years (since 1970) dreaming concerning the ways to and likelihood of vastly improved environments and cultures for greater health and happiness.
All of which has resulted in 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 of 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 pretty much to be under our field of control. Alas, this functional and preferred way of thinking is essentially illusory. You will find three a lot more consequential realities not under your influence in any way. Furthermore, these three factors render the standard and duration of one's existence unpredictable and unknowable. They are: 1) random chance or fortune; 2) natural selection; and 3) contingencies.
Ardell's 2nd Law of REAL Wellness: Relative to Ardell's 1st Law of REAL wellness, other REAL wellness laws don't amount to much.
Taking into consideration the immense black hole power of the very first law, additional such laws play a small role in efforts to shape life quality and longevity.
But, that doesn't obviate the case for added laws of REAL wellness. The fact is that the majority of the eponymous laws on the books are useless to the majority of people but are yet of interest and even helpful for a few. I'm within my eighth decade; I'm not alert to most occasions when I would have benefited from an awareness of Aitken's law or Zipf's law. I heard about neither until I began the study for this essay. Ditto a great deal of other laws.
Relative to the 1st law above, this law and the ones that follow do not amount to 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 of us enjoy royal lineage or handsome trusts that assure first-class travel in life with minimum significance of labor, we must choose trades of sorts to pay our way through life. Thus, we are smart to adopt a long-term goal of studying and laboring at a trade that may prove enjoyable and satisfying, as well as properly remunerative.
When this challenge is met, your way of earning a living won't appear to be work.
Thus another law - master a passion. Begin by following varied interests and, after years and years or even decades of trial and error, settle into one, immersing yourself in it.
Be somewhat realistic but guard against premature realism-while not everybody can get elected, take the films or play in the NBA or NFL, a select few can. Focus on what excites talents and gifts. Put in the time required to qualify for Carnegie Hall (i.e., practice, practice, practice-take account of Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours rule).
The goal here is that sooner or later in your career somebody, somewhere, for the right or strange reason, will pay you to do that which you enjoy doing-because you are so spectacular at whatever it's you have honed to a degree of artful mastery.
Robert Frost expressed the thought of this law in his poem "Two Tramps in Mud Time:"
My goal in life is to unite my vocation
with my avocation.
As my two eyes make one in sight.
For just 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: More straightforward to chase after fun than to flee from pain.
Forget a whiff of prevention. That could indeed be worth a pound of cure, but even a grain of REAL wellness is worth a lot of prevention. Prevention is indeed old school-it's vintage medical thinking focused upon avoiding negative outcomes. Furthermore, there is no fun in working in order not to experience a poor outcome.
Rather than preventing something, pursue good results via proactive initiatives that amuse and satisfy. REAL wellness initiatives guided by reason, exuberance, athleticism and liberty are far more likely to be exciting and enjoyable. Such efforts will reinforce good intentions far significantly more than hanging around for negative states not to happen as a result of preventive strategies!
Naturally, SOME prevention is good. Contraceptive 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. Yes, initially it is easier, cheaper and easier the culprit, excuse, deny and/or ignore responsibility than to embrace it. Such are the existing default settings in many cultures, including our own. In the long or even medium range, however, it's healthier, more satisfying and far better to assume at the least some extent of responsibility. This approach lets you 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 very important to 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 the like vary significantly. Immigrants Among the main elements for enjoying life should be the connection with plentiful, an active curiosity about and life-long openness to new meanings and a commitment to and maintenance of a remarkably fit body.
Therefore, along with mastering an understanding and acceptance of the truth of Ardell's 1st Law of REAL Wellness, create a point of always trying to appear on the bright side of life. If the latter seems difficult, take comfort from the words 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 do his homework. "Someday it will break apart and that will be the end of everything."
"But," his Mother snaps, "you're within Brooklyn! Brooklyn isn't expanding."
