Science of Efficiency

I once was frustrated by a period of investigating a philosophy where my brain was just boiled down to incomprehension. I had to take a break: At the time I was working in the basement of the Forces Command Operations center so the idea to go outside and get some fresh air required I take an elevator ride up to the first floor, then walk down a long hall and pass by a security desk, card out the glass doors and finally be out-side.  Once outside it was a few hundred yards to a local coffee spot; and that was where I was headed.  Along the way I ran into a contractor who worked in the operation center. We had a nodding acquaintance, meaning I knew his name but scarcely much more.  When he saw me he greeted me with the customary,“How are you doing?”  Most of us do this without thinking about the words and know it’s a modified hello. On this occasion I responded as if it were a genuine inquest into my well being. 

   “Dave” I said, “Why bother with philosophical enlightenment when all it does is throw your understanding of the world into the gutter?”  He laughed and replied, “Because you can Al,” I had to laugh at his response as well, but he didn’t stop there I believe he wanted to make sure I got the whole picture he was talking about. 

   “Most of the world spends its waking hours looking for fuel to heat their huts or cook their food.  We don’t have to do that so we spend our time on things that have our interest.”

   It’s been over ten years since that conversation, and perhaps I’ll come back to the rest of it because he gave me some genuine pearls to consider, but for today I wanted to address something that interest me in the here and now: and that would be:

Science of efficiency.

  It came to me while at the gym the other day as I got roped into a discussion on what were the building blocks of health.  I spent the better part of that day and several days after that, construing a personal list of the things I felt were necessary to have a healthy life.  Never mind identifying the basics, I’m talking healthy; not just surviving.  Foremost, I think we need Water, too many people forget that we’re mostly water and that our systems all need fluids to do their job.  

Forgetting water is nearly as foolish as forgetting to eat. So yes Nutrition is important and that’s simply to learn what is good for your body, and what is not; I’ll not linger on that topic since it could take for-ev-ah to delineate the topic.  Then there is adequate Rest and Activity.  Both are necessary as well as lack of either causes trouble for the body-prime. 

 For the mind-spirit aspects of us all, there is Autonomy, the sense that decisions are informed as well as freely made without duress or fear; Purpose/belief is where there is a sense of meaning in the activities taken on; and finally Connectedness, where we feel we are contributing and participating in the community in which we thrive. 

That seems like a small enough list to keep near-and-dear doesn’t it?  I’m sure there is a host of other ‘like to have’  I could include. But as the bedrock truth of efficiency, I think the science necessary to keep the fire of well-being is smaller than most of us would give credit. Oh and what a surprise…..nowhere is money a necessity….sweet.