Muscle

A few weeks ago, I started posting about Fourfold Fitness [see intro], which is a tool that helps me focus my intentions.

It might seem like an obvious statement to say that physical strength [see table] is integral to a healthy life. I’ve noticed a couple of disturbing abilities in myself, however; one is taking for granted the strength I have, and the other is adapting to my incremental loss of strength. In other words, I don’t tend to think very much about developing or even maintaining physical strength. And as various muscles atrophy, I just work around my reduced capacity.

I’m committed to altering that trajectory; its eventual destination is not where I choose to go. My skeletal frame needs support and connectivity. I need muscle in order to do what I’d like to do without damaging myself. So I’m slowly building resistance training into my routine.

There are many other things I’d rather do, so it’s important for me to remember the big picture of my life. I have to consciously consider what my “ten-years-from-now self” would say to me; that a decade of small choices directed toward good habits (practices) will profoundly effect my future quality of life.

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Coin

A few posts ago, Craig-Bob (of Out Of Fellowship fame), asked about the rogue row beneath my Fourfold Fitness table: Finances. He wondered why it was set apart from the main grid.

My answer was that the financial dimension began as a subset of Physical, but since it isn't physiological, per se, it seemed to warrant a separate row.

T-Wolf argued that “Finance is not a component unto itself but rather an intention zone of the cognitive + the attribute strength.”

Craig-Bob followed with the idea that "Financial might fall on a z-axis because it has attributions in each of the 2-dimensional cells […] defined.”

Michael C. brought in the notion of metrics, suggesting that money measures momentum in each of the sixteen zones. He referenced Jacob Needleman's book, Money and the Meaning of Life.

For now, it remains a fifth row in my provisional paradigm. At some point, however, I intend to incorporate an additional four-directional plane to the map. It describes the way I think of resources: Time, Energy, Money, and Affection.

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Fourfold Fitness Table

	Strength	Flexibility	Endurance	Balance
Spiritual	Integrity	Humility Transformation	Courage Loyalty Perseverance	Grounding Beauty Upright
Cognitive	Creativity	Teachable Broadminded	Curiosity Honesty Follow-Through	Wisdom Awareness
Emotional	Joy Gratitude	Generosity Kindness Adaptable	Hope Vision	Peace Humor
Physical	Muscle	Motion	Stamina	Agility Rest
(Financial)	Income	Giving / Spending	Savings	Budget

Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Creativity

Cognitive strength is valuable to me; I intend for it to be among my primary character traits. One of the ways I choose to cultivate greater capacity in this intention zone is by practicing creativity.

When I’m at my best, creativity is radiating into every territory of my life. It isn’t contained or compartmentalized. So it wouldn’t be out of place in any of my sixteen zones.

But for the sake of focus, I center Creativity at the intersection of Cognitive & Strength [see table]. In my experience, my mind nearly always comes into play when I’m being creative. Thoughts are sorted and shuffled, and arranged in new constellations – new categories are framed and tested – new pathways, sequences, connections are mentally sketched out…

It’s a very satisfying form of exertion: it feels like pushing a stalled car that I didn’t think would budge, or hiking a little farther than my imagined capacity, or splitting a cord of firewood. Creativity makes me feel strong.


Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Fourfold Fitness

The soul’s topography won’t fit within the languages of tongue or pen. It’s like trying to capture the vastness and detail of a natural landscape in the frame of a photograph.

But knowing the terrain of our own depths is necessary for fully engaged living. Some people have an innate knack for soul navigation; others need a map and compass.

I use a four by four grid, where the intersections create “intention zones” integral to my joie de vivre. The four components of my humanness are: Physical, Emotional, Cognitive, and Spiritual. The four key attributes of fitness (IMHO) are: Strength, Flexibility, Endurance, and Balance.

The next few soul-friending posts will describe some of my intention zones. I hope there will be ideas and inspirations for you. However, I hasten to underscore that it’s just a map I’ve sketched to help make sense of my personal topography; it’s not intended to be comprehensive, absolute, or directly transferable. But maybe it’ll provoke you to undertake your own “depth cartography”.


Copyright Scott Burnett 2006