Month: July 2023

The Personal Moral Compass, Part 3: The 5

Health and fitness are an essential part of a better lifestyle. Being in better shape contributes to being able to do more each day, spend more quality time with your spouse and kids, and to enjoy more than just going to work and going home. The 5 Keys to Health will help get you on and keep you on that roadway. The 5 Keys to Health are:

1. Nutrition
2. Exercise
3. Rest
4. Hygiene
5. Attitude

Nutrition is an important building block of our daily lives. Most do not understand the connection between how good or bad they feel simply based upon what they are consuming. Being rational in our eating choices and avoiding the junk that pretty much makes up most of the basic American diet is the basis for getting and staying healthy. Moderation in portion size, food selection, and frequency are in order for most of us.

While not everyone may want to be the size of Arnold Schwarzenegger in his Mr. Olympia days, a consistent, regimented exercise routine is essential for developing better health and longevity. Whether it is a high intensity style workout, body weight conditioning, toning bands, or free weights, getting a sensible workout that you like, that pushes and motivates you, and that you do consistently will benefit your health needs for years to come.

An often-neglected side of a healthy lifestyle is getting efficient rest. The rest period is where the body fixes the problems it experienced the day before. It recharges your batteries and gives you the energy to move onto the next day’s set of issues. Rest is often ignored, to our detriment. The tricky part is that not everyone needs the same amount of rest. I may require more of it than you do, or vice versa. And rest is not always about sleep and naps. It may also include a scheduled day to relax with little to do, or a planned recreational outing.

While hygiene may seem simple, it may surprise you the number of people who have horrible hygienic habits. Lice, ringworm, staph infections may be obvious signs of a lack of hygiene, but the habits that lead up to that boil down to personal choices. Keeping yourself, your living area, and the clothes you wear clean are essential to proper hygiene. Steps should be taken to ensure that you take every step necessary to avoid the issues that poor hygiene habits bring.

In 1997 Carthage (TX) Police Officer Michelle Jeter stopped a van. It was something that she had done many times in her career, but this day would be different. Officer Jeter was assaulted by the male suspect, punched in the face, knocked down and mounted and again punched repeatedly in her face eight more times while she lay unconscious and unable to defend herself. She should have died, so severe were her injuries. But she not only survived, but she also fought through the injuries to return to active patrol duties later. How did she overcome a potential life-threatening situation? She had a positive mental attitude and a will to live! There is an abundance of stories that you can find about individuals that should not have survived yet did because of their mental fortitude and attitude. Conversely, there are just as many that tell of those who suffered minor injuries yet succumbed to them. The difference is simply that of a positive mental attitude! Keeping a positive mindset takes work, training, and a conscious effort of will, but the benefits of it are remarkable!

Keeping a balance of rational nutrition, sensible exercise, efficient rest, proper hygiene, and a positive attitude may seem to be a lot of work. But the benefits are worth much more than the applied work! And those benefits include a healthier, happier lifestyle that will spill over and affect other aspects of your life as well! In our next installment in this series, we will talk about the 3 States of Mind.

The Personal Moral Compass, Part 2: The 7

In part one of this series, we talked about the need for a personal moral compass. Without this important part of our own ethical decision-making process, we could not function as an organized society. If we did not have this framework, anarchy would reign supreme. What follows is the basis for our own personal moral code, one that we think all people can work within, regardless of their religion, culture, or creed. The 7 5 3 Code, in its current iteration as we use it, was developed by the Valente Brothers in Maimi, Florida. There are 7 Codes of Virtue, 5 Keys to Health, and 3 States of Mind. It is based on the Bushido Code taken from ancient Japanese cultures, but it’s tenets are no less necessary nor less important in our world today. For this blog’s purpose, we will focus on the 7 Virtues.

The basis of the 7 5 3 Code is the 7. These are the 7 Virtues. In a nutshell, they are:

1. Rectitude
2. Courage
3. Benevolence
4. Politeness
5. Honesty
6. Honor
7. Loyalty

At its very beginning the Code starts off with Rectitude. We define this as doing what is right without regard for the consequences. In today’s society, we are often attacked, canceled, or outright ridiculed for doing the right thing. But in order to be true to ourselves, and to be the best role model that we can, doing what is right is imperative. If you do not start with integrity, the rest is simply lip service.

We follow that with Courage, the inner strength to resist opposition. Notice that it doesn’t say the absence of fear? As ol’ John Wayne once said, “Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway”. Many soldiers, fireman, and police officers will tell you that they went through extremely tense and frightening situations that may have scared them to their very core, but they had to do so because they were the one only ones available at the time to do what was necessary.

Benevolence is the disposition to be good. This is a conscious choice that we have to make, not just daily, but several times a day. The temptation to give in to wrong desires, the “easy road” to riches, or to slip in our personal vows to another is an easy one, but it takes an effort to resist it.

Politeness is showing proper courtesy and respect to others. “Treat everyone like a gentleman, not because they are, but because you are.” (Ed Sabol) The old saying about getting better results with honey than with vinegar is one that often holds true. Treating others with politeness only costs you pennies, but the return is measured in hundred-dollar bills!

Honesty starts with genuine integrity and character in your actions. As was stated in part 1, it does you no good to be a black belt in martial arts, and a white belt in life. A lack of basic honesty, not just with others, but within yourself only lays a foundation of sand. And as the parable goes, when the storms come, that house gets washed away.

Honor. This is one we hear of in the martial arts world from day one. Yet we often see a lack of the ethical conduct that this simple word portrays within that community. Bad seeds are in every profession, strive to ensure that you are not one of them!

Loyalty is the faithfulness and allegiance that we maintain between each other. While we may move on from a situation, work moves us to another location, or family issues cause us to train at another location, we can still be loyal to those we hold our fellowship with. And loyalty is a two-way street! It must flow both ways for it to work.

Knowing these 7 Virtues is a good start. However, like many things in this life, they are useless without application. If you hold yourself accountable to a higher standard, you will often find that those with whom you spend the most time will do the same. Study these 7 Virtues, apply them to the situations within your life, and you will experience a better lifestyle! Next time we will explore the 5 Keys to Health!