Commentary

July 20, 2012

Something from nothing?

by Chaplain Aaron Klaves
452 AMW chapel staff

One of my new favorite quotes comes from Bruce Lee.

Bruce Lee once said, when referring to life, “It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.” Interestingly, a discipline that Bruce Lee and many others advocate to help hack away at the unessential aspects of life is to essentially — doing nothing — really! More and more scientific studies suggest that occasional periods of silence and solitude can help alleviate problems related to stress, anxiety, high blood pressure, even insomnia. Doctors are beginning to theorize that a little bit of quiet time may even alter a person’s brainwaves, thus increasing gray matter density, mental acuteness and focus. Perhaps, it can even decrease fatigue and symptoms of depression! It is beginning to appear that doing nothing does something!

It is understood the act of doing nothing is not easy. Establishing ideal silence and solitude means no distractions — no TV, no Internet, no music, no books, no people, no anything! So, to successfully do nothing, it will require a huge effort on your part. You may have to move to another room, you might have to close your eyes or even wear earplugs. Heck, you may have to resort to sitting in a closet with the door closed to get away from all the distractions! It will certainly feel weird (it will positively look weird — Heaven help you if someone finds you sitting in the closet doing nothing). The reason why, of course, is because you have been conditioned to always have something going on in your life — think about it. The tech industry is making a fortune off all your distractions. How many gadgets do you have that give you something to do when there is nothing to do?

The four pillars of Comprehensive Airman Fitness include the mental, physical, social, and the spiritual pillars. I acknowledge, spirituality can be difficult to define, but it is very real. It is so real that a growing body of physical evidence suggests by simply giving your mind (not just your physical body and brain), your soul, your spirit, whatever you call “You,” a chance to rest and reset occasionally, good things can happen. Are you at the point where you are ready to try just about anything? Consider doing nothing. God bless!

Everyone is welcome!

452nd Air Mobility Wing A & B UTA

Sunday Worship Services
Protestant Services
6:30 – 6:50 a.m.
50th/56th Aerial Port Squadrons, Bldg. 2340

12:00 – 12:30 p.m.
Base Chapel, Bldg. 468




All of this week's top headlines to your email every Friday.


 
 

 
U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Jacquelyn Estrada

Team March hosts Eighteenth Air Force commander for two-day visit

U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Jacquelyn Estrada Lt. Gen. Darren McDew, commander, 18th Air Force and Chief Master Sgt. Vicki Gamble, command chief, 18th Air Force, congratulate Chief Master Sgt. James Wood, 56th Aerial Port S...
 
 
Personal Nguyen family courtesy photo

Our land of limitless opportunities

Personal Nguyen family courtesy photo Dr. Nguyen is pictured with his mother, father and brother in 1976, shortly after their arrival to the United States. May is Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. For Vietname...
 
 
U.S. Air Force photo/2nd Lt Bari Yonkers

March security forces awarded AFRC Best Full-Time Unit

U.S. Air Force photo/2nd Lt Bari Yonkers Staff Sgt. Adrian Salido, installation patrolman, 452nd Security Forces Squadron, checks the identification of a Team March member entering the main gate yesterday. Salido is part of the...
 

 
DoD

DOD seeks leadership program candidates

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas – Department of Defense officials are seeking active duty Air Force majors and major-selects for the academic year 2013-2014 Executive Leadership Development Program, Air Force Personnel Center officials said. Applications are due to AFPC by June 10. Program orientation is slated for August and the first event will be held in October,...
 
 
130521-F-XX999-568

Memorial Day: Remember our veterans

SOUTHWEST ASIA — The Civil War ended nearly 150 years ago on May 9, 1865, marking the beginning to a new era. However, many lives were lost during the more-than-four-year war. As a result, three years later, on May 5, 186...
 
 
130521-F-SC698-001

Airmen submit innovative ideas by the thousands

WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than 8,000 money-saving ideas have cascaded into the Pentagon from across the Air Force this month. Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Larry Spencer launched the Airmen Powered by Innovation Challe...
 




0 Comments


Be the first to comment!


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>


Directory powered by Business Directory Plugin