This is my page to ramble...if you have a comment on my ramblings, post it in my guestbook.  These are all just my opinions so don't get all huffy and/or puffy over them.  The bodybuilding ramblings will be at the bottom so scroll down if you want to read them.

      In general, I feel as though most societies in this day and age seem to function under a term I have coined 'elimination theory'; which basically means getting rid of every aspect of life that could have any conceivable potentionally harmful effect on society, despite it's many probable, and even likely, positive outcomes.  In addition to that, I feel very much as though we, as a society, have become extremely focused on eliminating short term inconveniences, only to create long term crises.  Having said that, I think there a few things that should be re-thought just to make it easier for myself and everyone else to get their stuff done happily and more efficiently.  

   The Paul Loggs:

     These subjects pretty much all fit under the umbrella of ‘getting what we want out of life’, although some more indirectly than others.  I am sitting here with a bunch of notes from several nights of feverish, impassioned thinking and writing, and I have almost no idea how I am going to put them all together; so I apologize if this is all somewhat disorganized.  Also, some of this stuff is so simple, especially some of the stuff in the beginning, that I'm sure some of you will think I am not only cliche but a moron to boot, just for including it in my writings; but there is a down pointing arrow button somewhere on your keyboard that will, rather quickly, assist you in scrolling to the next topic should you decide to give me one final chance and continue reading.   

Don't get too caught up in my section titles-I didn't know how else to categorize them.

    Subject #1-Free will and the actions of human beings:

It becomes clearer and clearer to me, on a daily basis, that people are not their actions, and should not be judged as such(or at all).  Actions, in fact, more often than not, blur the truth about who and what a person actually is.  It is understood that human beings operate within the confines of 'free will'---hardly a confine at all.  But it must also be understood that, that free will is not free from outside influence such as past experiences and our perceptions of them, which illicit very heavy influence on our future actions and reactions in nearly every situation we should come to experience.  Our future actions are based quite heavily on the summation of our past experiences and our perceptions of them.  It seems to me that only those who are extremely masterful, operate under what the lay man describes as "Free Will"...in other words, what we all think of when we think 'Free Will'-bound by neither law nor conditioning.  Rest assured, true free will as was just described resides in us all, as we have been given the freedom to do as we wish; but few have achieved this ideal, as past experiences, perceptions of them and subsequent beliefs seem to have flooded most minds, of this day and age and of the past, with half truths.

    Subject # 2-What we like and dislike

Nowadays, this seems like the most simple thing in the world to me, but I must admit that, in the past, I have been more than guilty of being tantalized and held captive by the lustful calls of the immediately gratifying course of action vs those of the inexplicably more gratifying, narrow path-the long and the short term answer.  I wish that everyone would always have at least one thing in mind: this very moment, this situation and our feelings toward it, are but a snapshot of the whole.  Our current likes and dislikes are based very heavily upon what will get us out of pain and into pleasure, or out of unhappiness and into happiness.  If we only thought ahead, not just to tomorrow or 6 months from now, but years from now, even hundreds of years from now.  It would be nice if everyone took a moment to become aware of what was going on and to think about how their actions will effect them in the future.  This is how we create a set of likes and dislikes that actually does us some good and sets us up for positive future actions.  It makes a lot more sense to me to really love the things that make me healthy and fill everyone around me with long term happiness than to love the things that make me feel good for a couple of hours and then end up less healthy and in search of the next fix-ie: food, drugs, alcohol.  It does us no good to have conflicting likes and dislikes.  I can’t like the way bad eating, drugs, and alcohol make me feel if I am going to keep my goal of living an optimally healthy lifestyle.  I can’t even like it in the short term.  The whole idea has to fall under the dislike list.  It doesn’t mean I’ll never do it again, it just means I have to be aware of the immediate and long term consequences-in this way I can use these dislikes to further condition my distaste for them.  The point is not to stop liking things and live a boring life.  The point is to replace our taste for drug like immediate gratification with a blissful love for everything that for works for yourself and everyone else.  That's paramount, I would say.  Without replacing your feelings of pleasure, how would you ever go on?  My life is far more ‘restrictive’ to the untrained eye than most other people's but I feel more in love with it now than I ever did before.  I consciously extract as much joy as I possibly can from each positive action that I do now by being aware of the entirety of its positive effect-how it will effect me and everyone else not only today but hundreds and thousands of years from now.  So much as a smile can have this effect.  No strictly immediately gratifying action can replace that.  Not one.

        Subject # 3- Restrictions/Denial of the physical/natural

Understand that 'natural' is literally everything in existence and everything you could ever imagine.  If it can be imagined, it must be natural.  All things good and bad, beautiful and ugly fall under this umbrella.  Denial of the physical or the natural....placing restrictions on action, for example, seems to be giving in to a socially conditioned disgust for human nature.  Promoting this denial by placing the restriction further exemplifies this disgust and creates, then, a society full of  fearful, shameful people; which then creates a society filled with angst, frustration, and pent up emotion.  People must be allowed to act in the ways they choose....as often as possible.  Only in this way, will acceptable and non-acceptable actions be laid out for everyone to see, learn from, and adopt...or give up. 

I'm pretty convinced that every movement, every thought, every action, is the accumulation of every experience and every emotion a person has ever had up until that very moment.  I'm not willing, at this point in time, to lay blame on anyone for their thoughts or their actions.  People are not their actions; actions in fact, are what blur what people really are.  They are the physical manifestation of experiences, thoughts, feelings, and perceptions.  Telling people they are wrong doesn't make a lot of sense to me; nor does punishing them for physically manifesting a feeling that society has deemed dysfunctional, or even wrong.  I think Gandhi said it best with "Be the change you want to see." 

The truth is, people eventually work things out if they are allowed to think and allowed to act.  Most people figure out what works and what doesn't work relatively quickly.  What keeps you from murdering people?  What keeps you from hurting people?  Your belief system, I would assume.  What creates beliefs?  Experiences, I would assume.  Those who act in ways that don't seem to work: violent ways, or toxic ways, or abusive ways, have not had the kinds of experiences that have led you and I, and so many others, to create strong beliefs and personal rules against these sort of things.  I am sure there are those out there that seem to never learn, but for those few...well, my personal opinion is that they are here to create adversity; and society without adversity is a stagnant one, in my opinion.  All in all though, I am relatively confident that tons and tons of perfectly loving, capable people are acting in ways that don't really make a lot of sense simply because they have not had the right experiences; which very likely, is because their actions and their thoughts were suppressed in one way or another by rules, regulations, or social conditioning supposedly safeguarding society from what I view as nothing more than the symptoms, or the physical manifestions of rather dysfunctional(if functional means happy/healthy) feelings/emotions.  

The Living Guidelines:

    1.Focus-Our physicality and our reality is determined by our thoughts and our beliefs.  We immediately create what we think and our bodies begin change accordingly.  Mere thoughts are fleeting though, so focus is what is required-constant thought coupled with feeling.  Consciousness must be directed towards the goal more often than not.  Simple as that.  And if you want to achieve it faster...even more often than that.  Also, it would be in your best interest, imo, to include a clause at the beginning or end of your goal to encompass guidelines #2-6.

    2.  Be aware.  This could very easily be guideline number 1.  In fact, I may just move it up there when you are not looking.  We must be constantly aware of our actions and their chain of consequences.  Rest assured that there is no such thing as an individual act, or anything in isolation, whatsoever. 

     3. Change. Somewhere along the line, changing became something that society and people in general look down upon.  I don't know how this happened but this could not have been a bigger mistake.  Be aware of what you have done, what you are doing, and what you are going to do, and change constantly to meet the needs of yourself and everyone else-the real needs-the ones that make you and everyone else happy and loving forever.  Change everything, your whole personality if need be.  Literally everything.  You can do it at the drop of a hat.  If something isn't working, immediately change.

    4.  Blissful state.  Simply put, very little gets done in a depressed state.  It is of the utmost importance that you enjoy what you are doing and enjoy the company you are in.  Do not force this.  Understand why it is necessary and then let it happen.  Look for the good in people and situations.  There is always some to find. 

    5.  Cleanliness/non toxicity.  The less time needed to clean up the body, the more time left for your chosen endeavors-building muscle, in my case(amongst other endeavors).  Clean air, living food, loving creative thought and understanding will keep you non toxic.  In regards to food, beware of flooding!  All the raw/living food in the world does you no good, and in fact only harms you if you eat in excess of your ability to digest.  The amount of food that is available to your for energy is contingent on how much you digest, not how much you eat.  Digestion takes time and energy, for most people these are limited resources.  Time and energy could be much better spent elsewhere if your dietary needs were met 2 meals ago. 

    6. Doing good unto others and the environment.  Some may call this karma.  I call it action and re-action.  Helping others immediately helps you, in addition to helping you in the long run when your action creates an enormous chain of events that inevitably comes back to you.  My current contention is that this can happen surprisingly quickly. 

      Ideas on various subjects that interest me:

             Subject #1: Perfection in life and Creation:

This Earthly life is based on the 'you experience what you create' principle.  Your reap what you sow kind of thing.  In other words, everything in your particular reality is exactly as you have chosen and created, whether consciously or subconsciously.  I don't think there is such thing as a fault, so imo there is definitely no such thing as someone else's fault or your fault or anyone's fault.  There is only cause and effect.  The cause is always thought and the effects are too numerous to count.  Remember, nothing happens by chance.  There is no imperfection, there is no mess up.  Every seemingly innate imperfection, a gene mutation for example, is the effect of a past descendants action, whether conscious or unconscious-whether physical or mental. 

             Subject #2: External Stimulation:

A balance must be found when it comes to external stimulation...ie:entertainment.  The balance may end up looking like this: 1%-99% external to internal...but it is a balance nonetheless.  I won't go so far as to say TV and other forms of entertainment rob your of your ability to imagine but I will say that when supplied sound, pictures, and ideas from the outside, the need to create these things on the inside diminishes.  If the need diminishes, the desire to perform the act diminishes, and when the desire diminishes, the Learned ability diminishes.  Although, the inherint ability to imagine remains....(probably). 

              Subject #3: Disease:

Disease.  Dis-ease-the result of impurity, of toxicity, and misuse; the symptoms of which are the summation of everything consumed in one way or another-this includes things mentally 'consumed'; which accounts for the wide array of symptoms for all diseases in general.  I don't think it's possible to catch a disease, it is only possible to become one.  Viruses and bacteria are often the results of disease, not the cause.  They are here to help, here for our own good.  They take care of our cleanliness when we ignore it.  Mental and physical toxification is the one disease.  Detoxification comes from understanding and comprehension-after these two, all physical detoxification follows, as a result of lifestyle change.  One last little snippet, disease flows through the generations(genetics)-these are the sins of the father and they will be paid by the son.  Sometimes the right acts of the son are not enough to undo the sins of the father; but as far as I can tell, they make it a whole lot more tolerable.

              Subject# 4: The Ownership of our Lives:

Our lives are ours, yes.  It is true that we have no responsibility to anyone or anything, including any written law.  In addition to that, it is then also true that we may do as we wish at any and all times.  We have been given the freedom to do so.  Although, many people seem to be under the impression that once they've done something and forgotten about it, it is goes away or is somehow all over.  There's a chain of consequences.  For every THOUGHT, not to mention every action, the chain is inexplicably immense.  I think you will see it all again, I think you will feel how every thought and every action affected everyone and everything.  Be ready to deal with that.  We may do as we wish but we must be capable of handling every last consequence.  We get away with nothing.  This is your life, yes, but be prepared to take responsibility for every last minute detail.

               Subject #5: The Ideal vs. Doing What Works:

Ideals are great, in my opinion.  Infact, more often than not, the ideal works just fine assuming you are willing to carry it out-there is a lot to be said for people who do this.  However, when faced with a situation that needs immediate tending to and the ideal is not feasible, a little variance off the ideal is almost always achievable, and more than acceptable in my opinion.  I think what really matters is that we all do what is best for ourselves and everyone else in both the immediate short term and the long term-by which I mean, days, weeks, months, years, even hundreds of years.  In fact, as long as we uphold that standard, everything else I have written here can just be forgotten about.  Doing what is truly best for you and everyone else despite apparent contradictions to your current belief system is something truly magnificent.  That is a kind of power that all people have, but few people choose to engage. 

                 Subject #6: The way I, He, She, or It makes us feel:

The idea that any outside source can make you feel anything, one way or another, is a total impossibility-right along with any outside source making you do one thing or another.  To be prompted to feel a certain way or do certain things is a different story, but the distinction between the two is far greater than most people think...i think.  Nothing can come from the outside and make anything happen on the inside without your permission.  Know this. 

                 Subject# 7: Worrying/Negative Thinking:

With focus comes reality.  In fact, with thought, comes reality.  Worrying is the absolute worst way to spend our time.  It is nothing more than obcessing over a problem without so much as attempting to find a solution.  Forget the problem and think of the solution.  Every situation should be dealt with the "how can I can I make this into a great thing" attitude.  Worrying will do nothing but help make what you are worrying about become a reality.  It will also adversely affect those around you.  Thoughts become reality.  We must get this into our heads.  Thoughts become reality.  If you are depressed, it is likely that others around you will become depressed.  We are all being held accountable for our thoughts and psychological states-be aware of them always.  You become your focus...I was going to end that with"Your focus becomes you" and it was gonna be cool....but it's not quite true.  You become your focus.   

                 Subject # 8: Lies/Omissons of Truth...Secrets:

The very feeling that someone has something to hide and thus lie about is a good indication of the sad state that this society is in.  People are not their actions; there is no shame in displaying them.  In fact, not only is their no shame, but only a society that promotes up front, total  honesty can deliver us from all our hardships(in most situation...see ideal vs. what works).  An omission of truth, or a secret if you will, is in my opinion, sometimes just slightly less harmful than a lie(in many situations-not all).  I think we must strive to create an environment in which no one feels ashamed of their actions, where everyone feels ok about being honest about not only what they've done, but what they are thinking at any given moment.  Know this: Lies and omissions of truth promote a standard that is sub-par on every level; and yet fools everyone into thinking the exact opposite.  When honesty rules, in word and in action, no behavior will be un-acceptable; rather there will be behaviors that work and don't seem to work, and we will all learn from them.  One last note, I want to mention again...the fact that people do not feel comfortable telling the truth is the real problem, not that people do not tell the truth. 

                   Subject #9: Fear

Fear-the epidemy of lack of understanding, the great paralyzer.  The same goes for self doubt.  Fear is the result of a belief in the existence of absolute good and bad, wrong and right, evil...etc.    It is possible these things exist but likely not in the sense that most people think they do.   Fear will overcome itself when understanding evolves.  Complete or near complete fearlessness is the ultimate, in my opinion.  Truly, even fearing fear itself, is far to detrimental to the human being and everything else to be tolerated.  Again, it is epidemy of the complete lack of understanding.  And yet here I am, still struggling with it. 

                     Subject # 10: Helping people

The biggest help to all people though will be if you treat them as you would your brother.  Loving people will make them more loving, which will translate, I believe, into them coming to the conclusion that they too need to live responsible lifestyles towards the rest of humanity, the animal kingdom, and the environment.   

                      Subject# 11: The current state of bodybuilding:

     I am going to try to say all of this in the most non-offensive, non-accusational way I can.  What happened to bodybuilding being about health and looking and feeling good?  Everyone has a right to do whatever they choose to their own bodies; but may I ask why so many people are involved in the drug sport over the natural one?  Especially, non-competitive people...this REALLY doesn't make sense to me. 

     Of all the ways to NOT push the sport and to actually INHIBIT the growth of bodybuilding, drug use ranks #1.  If the athlete had been forced to work with only that which is found in natural/organic animal life, the scientific methodology of weight training would be ten fold what it is today.  Consistant un-veilings of more and more efficient avenues towards physical success would be far more commonplace than they are today.  Comparatively speaking, how often are articles printed on new undiscovered techniques in resistance training methodology compared to articles printed on new chemical(this includes supplements) avenues towards success? Imagine how much farther the natural athlete would have come had drugs never been introduced onto the scene.  

     As stated earlier, I don't really care what people do to their own bodies.  Infact, many of my role models are/were drug using athletes.  Of course, their chemical status is/was not the reason I look/looked up to them.  Now, though, with athletes literally DYING, I think its time for a change.  The drug sport can really only go as far as modern day medicine's ability to keep the athletes alive.  One needs only to look back in bodybuilding news to find stories of star athlete after star athlete either retiring because of SERIOUS health problems or, in some cases, dying(Andreas Muntzer, Momo Benaziza).

     In conclusion: Contrary to popular belief, drugs DO NOT push bodybuilding to its extremes.  Drugs keep bodybuilding from its extremes by consistently helping the average bodybuilder to meet his/her most immediate short term needs, constant gains in size and strength, without ever forcing the athlete to find a long term, bodily and ecologically, healthy answer to this very simple short term problem.