As the proverb goes, health is wealth. And in this instance we are talking about the wealth of the human spirit. Good food is necessary for our health because our body is able to absorb its full nutrients – it is exactly so with our life. When we accept life in its sum total, relishing all its phenomena and sensations, our soul will be able to imbibe its entire range of ‘nutrients’, comprehending the full meaning of our existence, and letting us live our life to the utmost. Masami Sato shares the secret of living a full life in this excerpt from her latest book, ONE.

How come that many of us, (in fact, more of us) occasionally have a hollow feeling in our life? It is like the pangs of hunger. When we eat, the hunger is appeased and then we are not as much interested in food. But after a while, we become hungry again. Then, surprisingly we feel again enticed by the flavour and vision of food. We also experience some sort of a pining when we are not even actually hungry – just after we had some food. Some of us are perpetually hungry.

Constant emotional hunger is not the most pleasant thing to have. Then, how can we live our lives to the fullest? How can we be more satisfied permanently?

Maybe the answer is simple: just live our lives as a whole. The word ‘whole’ holds the meaning of completion. Then the secret to live a complete life is simply to live it as a whole.

Let’s start to look at one example of this ‘wholeness’ with something awfully close to our heart-our stomach.

Whole Food VS Semi Food

We have heard the term ‘whole food’. They say that eating whole food is the key to the health and wellness we seek. Then why is whole food so much better than ‘half food’?

A whole grain for example has a life. So, if you soak the whole grain in water, drain the next day and leave for a few days, it sprouts. It has a life of its own. When we eat such food, our body absorbs the full live nutrients. It has all the properties to cleanse, heal and nurture different body cells.

And just like the example of a grain, most traditional eating includes eating whole animals as well. Eating whole fresh fish used to be more common than taking a part of fish and throwing the rest away. It was the same for meat and the same for vegetables.

‘Part food’ sometimes tastes better and smells better but does not have much nutrition. We may enjoy its taste, but we could have some lasting illness if we only ate ‘part food’ all days of our life.

So, to balance the missing part, we started to take dietary supplements. We have been studying and researching for a long time to find the perfect balance. It gets more and more complicated as we chop the food up, preserve and transport, and even try to balance with other parts coming from different sources, regions and seasons. Some of the nutrients even come from non-food items. They are chemically generated. After analysis and testing, we approve it for human consumption. But no matter how hard we try; we cannot put all the ‘bits’ together to make it come alive.

Semi Life-’Sweetness’ of Life

So, if we perceive our life now, much of what we are doing can be similar to eating the ‘part food.’ Just enjoying the sugariness of life but jettisoning the real nutritious part. And if we put our ‘part life’ in water with other pieces and left it in the sunlight, could it germinate and grow into a beautiful complete life?

Whole food is not (as some people view it) insipid. It is in reality very tasty if prepared expertly. But as the demand is minimal, it has become costly. It will in fact prove to be cheaper in the long run though, as we will not have to spend on medicines later on. When more people will opt to have it, it will normally become less costly because it is a simple food with little wastage and processing.

Our life is identical. When we are only conscious of the ’sweet taste’ and discard the remainder into the dust bin because we do not realise its worth, we may be jettisoning the most important component. And that which we cast out could have the maximum power for the substantiation of our life and our financial system. It also needs more vigour and sources to throw it away. Better yet, that which we throw away comes at no cost.

So, what is it that we do not perceive?

Picture a life where we didn’t in fact believe that we were lacking anything there.

The secret is right here. The secret of a complete life.

Full Life-The Complete Life

When it is ‘full’, it does not matter how big the full is. It can spread out all at once. It can still have within it all the components to uphold itself as a complete living thing. Once it develops to a given size, it can continue to live without some portions of it. Like plants can remain alive after birds feed on a little of it or trees survive even after losing their leaves. But if we ignore the equilibrium for a pretty long time, finally it can lead to a deadly disproportion. Then it might become too difficult to revert to normalcy.

We do not have to return to prehistoric times to find fullness. Fullness exists in the present. All that is required to do is view intently; view intently enough to actually find.

When we can see our life as an entirety and resist jettisoning what feeds our life the most, we start feeling more and more satisfied without searching for ‘material’ to fill the depressions and vacuums of our life. Everything finally finds its level. We now recognize the entire apparatus of the world in a very altered way.

Yes, it is now time to find out how we can create (and see) this balance, continuously and sustainably.

The actual enriching part of our life is what makes us feel fine deep inside. It is like that portion of food that makes us hale and hearty in the final tally. Sensations we experience in our daily life are the real answer to our lasting joy. And there are sensations that make us feel more full.

The smiling visages we see when we acknowledge the merit of others. The happiness we feel when we give others gifts. The tenderness we feel when we see our children being happy. The motivation we get when we sense that our life is full of substance ..

Let us absorb these moments of our life wholeheartedly and savour the aroma of our full life. Then we will find how it is not obligatory to incessantly fill our heart (and belly!) with earthly satisfactions – those types of things that only add to our yearnings afterwards.

We can actually feel this joy, gratitude and love in order to experience the life as a whole at any moment regardless of the situations. It is not about what we see, what we hear or what we do that complete our life as a whole. It is about what we ‘choose to’ feel about our life.

Yes, our life indeed is already absolute.

When we begin acting based on this awareness, we can have real mastery over the balance creation – lasting physical wellbeing, riches, nourishing bond and joy.

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The founding father of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and patriarch of the Gracie family, Helio Gracie, died in early 2009 at the age of 95. His influence in martial arts as well as the sport of mixed martial arts is mind boggling. The Gracie family name will forever be synonymous with Brazilian sports, jiu-jitsu, MMA and the UFC”not only due to Helios own accomplishments but the legacy he created both by training others and through his family.

Helio Gracie began training in judo early in life, and by the age of 16 had already begun to teach others in his native Brazil. He was bothered by judo’s reliance on ‘brute strength’, however, and along with his brother Carlos began to adapt many of its forms to a new fighting system more reliant on leverage than strength. This prompted the creation of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ), frequently called Gracie Jiu Jitsu in his honor.

Gracie also had a professional fighting career of his own, taking on champions from other fighting disciplines in an early version of modern MMA. These bouts were arduous, unregulated affairs with arbitrary rules and no time limits. By his own recollection, Gracie fought 15 times against the top opponents of his time. He began his career in’32 by submitting professional boxer Antonio Portugal in just 32 seconds. Later that year, he fought American catch wrestler Frank Ebert to a draw after the ringside doctor ordered the bout stopped after an ungodly fourteen ten minute rounds.

His most famous battle was against Japanese judo legend Masahiko Kimura, resulting in a rare loss for Gracie. Despite the setback, he fought bravely and may have actually enhanced his legend after refusing to submit to a reverse arm bar (the same move that now bears Kimuras name). Only after his arm was broken did his brother Carlos throw in the towel.

Gracies influence on the Brazilian sports scene, and later the nascent sport of mixed martial arts, would continue through his family. Married twice, he had seven sons (Rickson, Royler, Rolker, Royce, Relson, Robin and Rorion) and two daughters (Rerika and Ricci), many of whom went on to make their own mark on the fight sport world. Royce Gracie is well known as the first UFC superstar, while sons Rickson Royler, Renzo have also achieved considerable fame in professional MMA. At the time of his death, Helio Gracie was a 6th Dan Judo black belt and the only living 10th degree master of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Gracie died at age 95, after suffering stomach problems though the cause of his death was officially listed as ‘natural causes’. His last words are classic and highly fitting for a man who gave so much to martial arts and fighting sports:

Gracie’s last words are as follows:”I created a flag from the sports dignity. I oversee the name of my family with affection and nerves of blood.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance writer and highly respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Northern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

After canceling their 2009 season, the Arena Football League has shut down entirely and appears headed for bankruptcy. Earlier this week, the league office released a short statement indicated that it had ceased operations because owners were “unable to reach any consensus on restructuring the league over the past eight months.” The league had reached a new agreement with players earlier this year, but was unable to convince enough owners that they had a viable plan to return to profitability.

Even before the decision was made to cancel the 2009 season this past December, it had been a tumultuous off-season for the Arena Football League. It began with the resignation of long time AFL commissioner David Baker just two days before the Arena Bowl championship game. Though Baker put a positive spin on his resignation saying that he felt it was time, the timing was curious despite his insistence that it was due to “personal reasons”.

In October, the owner of the New Orleans VooDoo announced that the team would cease operations”despite being one of the league leaders in attendance. In announcing that the team would fold, owner Tom Benson (who also owns the NFL Saints) suggested that the end of the five year old franchise was in no way an indictment of the New Orleans market.

At that point, uncertainty began to reign over the leagues future. A dispersal draft to reassign the VooDoo personnel was scheduled and postponed several times amid assurances from the AFL office that rumors of financial instability were unfounded.

The inability to get any consensus on a business model for the league reportedly served as the final nail in the AFLs coffin. A major problem was skyrocketing player salaries, and some sort of compensation system tied to team revenues was a necessity. That agreement was reached with the players, but a bigger schism was left between several factions of owners”primarily drawn along lines of overall wealth.

Despite the demise of the AFL, it wont be the end for “The 50 yard indoor war. The sport lives on the AF2 league which, ironically, was originally started as something of a developmental organization for the AFL. The league plays in smaller markets and has a more realistic salary structure. A number of current AFL players”and possibly a couple of AFL franchises”could end up in AF2.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and betting odds portal sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.