You are receiving this email from LifeStream Medical, Inc. because you purchased a product/service or subscribed on our website. To ensure that you continue to receive emails from us, add charles@runels.com to your address book today. If you haven't done so already, click to confirm your interest in receiving email campaigns from us.
 
You may unsubscribe if you no longer wish to receive our emails.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Week 9: Day 60 Health Strategy: Thinking March 1, 2005
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Greetings:

There's an interesting contradiction found in Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography. When he made his list of the virtues, he included "Moderation." He defined the virtue as "avoid extremes. . ." Yet, if you look at his life, he lived in an extreme way. So, if you're keeping up with these Health Strategies, and if you've read Franklin's Autobiography, and you've wondered why I threw out the virtue moderation, it's because I think health and happiness and productivity sometimes requires extremes. So, is there a virtue that Franklin omitted from his list and will it improve health?

In the spirit of a 13-week course that teaches the virtues (Franklin's original plan), I thought it would be worth looking at the healthy and productive to see if there might be a virtue that Franklin left off his list. I think it's the virtue of "Thinking" and it seems common to the healthy.


When I say "Thinking," I don't mean new ingenious thoughts that change the world (though those may come occasionally to a few). What I mean is exercising the unique human ability to think about our individual thoughts and actions and surroundings. It seems a divine gift unique to the human to actually contemplate rather than go with the flow of instinct only. But, does Thinking actually improve health? First, a little more about what Thinking is.

Thinking is the ability to pause in the space emphasized by Steven Covey in his books: the space between stimulus and response. It's the ability to pause in this space and consider (or Think) about what action or attitude might be best.

The best tool for pausing and considering seems to be a pen and paper since writing seems to focus and crystalize the thought. But, any tool that facilitates the pause will help. I've known some who turn off the radio and just think on the commute home, "Did my behavior today match what I know to be best for me and those around me?" Some use daily prayer or scripture reading. Some use their walking time for such thinking. Charles Dickens and Thoreau and many political leaders were ferocious with their walking and used this time for thinking.

Ignore thinking and it reduces the ability to earn and to contribute and the body suffers. Ignore thinking and relationships become more governed by prejudice, narcissism, and paranoia, Ignore thinking and conscience becomes numbed and vision dim. All of these changes lead to more stress, fewer resources, and damaged health.

Read on...


Quick Links. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  • Anytime . . . for as Long as You Want: Strength, Genius, Libido, & Erection by Integrative Sex Transmutation: A 15-Week Course for Men to Improve Life and Sex
  • Purpose of these Daily Strategies
  • Current Research


  • Contact Information
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    phone: 866-625-2612
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Email Marketing by