What does it take to blossom (Part 6)

A flower's uniqueness is its own, but a flower earns its grace from its stem

During this migration through thought and botany, I feel it is fair to address the objective of this series once more.  Movement of the Mind is dedicated to providing insight to focus on cognitive plyometrics.  Cognitive plyometrics is indeed necessary, with all the discussion in our society of being fit, exercising and eating healthy, very little asks us to think differently.  "We will never be what we never think", we as human beings are obligated to use our thinking faculties to generate not only thoughts, but change.  Before conditioning the body, which is important, we need to exercise  the ability to think, rationalize, and reason.  The most important muscle in the body, is often under worked and over strained and under appreciated.  I am a firm believer in health and the magic of proper diet and exercise.  I am more enthused by how we think and why we think about matters pertaining not only to us but our surroundings.

In this piece of What it takes to Blossom I am intrigued to go with you down this path of understanding on the significance of the stem or pedicel.  The stem is often overlooked and devalued as a part of the plant, but not distinctly part of the flower.  The stem is often portrayed as the "thing" that supports the flower upright.  However, the larger the flower the stronger the stem, right?  A stem actually does more than just support the beauty that is the flower, but it is its main source of life and energy.  A flower's uniqueness is it's own, but the flower earns its grace from its stem.  The stem distributes food to all parts of the flower and also transports energy and nutrients from the roots.  All this happens while the flower lauds its grandeur to the world.

What about us?  What is our stem?  More importantly, if we have a stem, is it providing the essentials of what is needed to put forth the best us?  While I can't answer that for your, I do implore you to search your thoughts appropriately for the answer.  But, let's digress a bit.  What is a stem in our case anyway?  Our stem could be linked to our exercise or active leisure.  -Wait ...What?!  Well, yes, having a measure of physical activity, can be likened to the stem of a flower.  Let's look at some similarities and let's see if exercise could be interchanged.  A stem is a source of energy, offers balance (both physical and emotional), provides nutrients, source of strength, has the ability to support, and provides a connection to our roots (Read Part 4 of this series regarding roots).

It's almost uncanny the comparison, the ties between the two.  But, don't worry, this is not a suggestion to start power-lifting and mountain climbing.  Physical activity or active leisure time can be a family event or mild enough for the most novice of exercisers.  Yet and still it is very important to incorporate into our daily existence. 

Being active is subjective, but the effects are not.  Having either active leisure time or exercise can also reduce the effects of some chronic conditions and lower the risk of them appearing in the first place.  A stem only exists to support the flower, so, physical activity should only be a means to support us.  There is a healthy balance between too much exercise, or exercise consuming our existence, and too little exercise, or giving no credulity to its life changing power.  So the question now is, how strong is our stem?  Could you attest to the strength and effectiveness of your physical activity or stem?  Notice the two points that represent the stem, both strength and effectiveness.

A stem strong and almost woody, but cannot transport nutrients bodes well for no one.  Eventually that strength becomes irrelevant and the flower dies.  But, when coupled with effectiveness the stem can provide the positives and be strong enough to support the flower and both can thrive and put forth the amazing wonder we see in gardens and fields today.  Can we label our physical activity as both strong, or engaging and effective, beneficial and sustainable?  If so, congrats, and if not, there's work to do.

Physical activity can be much more sustainable in a community setting, just as a field of flowers stand more impressive and stronger together.  We as a society can do this, it will take sacrifice and discipline, but tell me, what worth while in life doesn't?  I find a lot of people have given up or lost their ability to try.  This disheartening reality is becoming more and more apparent, especially in our youth.  Can a flower exist aside from the petal, or pistil?  Then we would do well to understand that the stems supports us in all aspects of our life.  Finding someone, a friend, partner or group to share in this realm of life can make the difference and prove most successful.  Let our stem not define us but refine us and help us put forth the most radiant, beautiful and best us.

"If you want to go somewhere fast you run, but if you want to go far you bring a friend" - Old African Proverb

 
 

Whose Elephant Is This Anyway?!

Why does the idea of a multifaceted solution concept seem so absurd in a multifaceted world?

In a world plagued with differentiating views, ideas, resolves, stances and approaches, is it fair to approach health and health literacy in a single linear fashion?  I mean, a one size fits all approach to multifaceted health problems.  Well, if we look at obesity and disease they seem to have distinct identifying marks.  Obesity, simply put is excess weight on the body, which in turn may lead to more severe co-morbidities.  Disease, in the same fashion, is a disorder or malfunction in the body.  Two very simple definitions, but very difficult opponents to sack.  In reading February 2011's Scientific American by David H. Freedman on, How To Fix The Obesity Crisis, they found that there are a lot of confined ideas that, though with good intention, were isolating or relating obesity and its causes to individual (or linear) aspects of life.  For example, claiming that soda is linked to obesity, and causes obesity.  Though, soda does have high concentrations of sugar and carries three percent of your daily sodium intake; it isn't equitable.

The parable of the four blind men and the elephant (which was referred to in the article), lends to an idea, a notion of looking at the same problem and finding different faults or causes within it.  The men, though genuinely impartial, described an animal based on two factors 1) their position, or vantage point, and 2) their feelings, or interpretation.  The fable continues to lead the reader to assume that what object their identifying is completely different and in stark contrast to one another.  All this, later to find that it's all the  same and the view point of each man is correct and justified.

If compared, we too at times look as if we're grasping for answers blindly, as the four men were.  Not confident in any one approach and hoping to find something to slow the mountainous ebb of increasing obese and diseased populations in America.  If lucky or fortunate, we'll find something, anything to stand behind and sell to the nation and the world that will "fix" this serious problem.  However, there is a Judas amongst the crowd, a modern day adversary.

The adversary is just as diversiformed as the solution that insist to tame it.  This adversary is all of us, and in that same breathe none of us at all.  The way we eat, and exercise, gives light that we are our own enemy.  On the other hand our ability to exercise in safe or adequate areas and what we have access to eat confers that the inculpation lies with another entity.  Is the enemy soda, juice, sugar, bread, fat or even salt?  Or is it exercise, behavior, location, ethnicity, demographic, race, money, or infrastructure?

Instead of looking to best define and isolate the elephant that lies in our grip, we would do well to unite the differences and understand why they exist in such close proximity.  In other words, the causes of obesity and its abhorrent cousin disease exist in close proximity with many other problems in our society.  For instance, fast foods versus whole foods, exercise versus cultural influence, and to these points they can be argued pro for both ends to some extent.

The parable doesn't answer the questions of health and in many cases answer very little at all.  However, it opens our minds to stop being answer gathers and shifts us to question "askers".  Our linear perception can be the very intangible thought that separates us from asking the right questions.  So, whose elephant is this anyway?!  ...It's mine, ...and yours and the person a far off from you.  The elephant isn't so much the problem as much as our insistence on what we feel as being absolute and without variance.

The article suggests that fixing the ongoing  problem could find great success by using best practices from other like conditions (alcoholism, drug addiction and autism) to slow or even reverse the effects. Isn't it true that there are so many different ailments we face and contend with today?  Hundreds of different disease, and chronic conditions that afflict so many people everyday.  If we could describe all of them they would look, sound and feel so different from one another; but to our surprise they belong to the same elephant... health. 

"By logic and fact alone can perception be laid waste..."