Honest IS The Best Policy

 If honesty did not exist, we would have to invent it as the best means to happiness and riches. In all the affairs of life there is no twilight zone of honesty. Things are either right or they are wrong - they are black or they are white.

"Show me the businessman or institutions not guided by service, honesty, and sentiment; by the idea, "he profits most who serves best", and I will show you a man or an outfit that is dead or dying." So advised B. F. Harris. Hope for gain by dishonest means is the beginning of loss.

When approaching a problem, we should strip ourselves of preconceived opinions and prejudice. Doing this enables us to assemble and learn the facts of the situation, make the decision which seems to us to be the most honest, and then stick with it.

Most business problems require common sense instead of legal reference. Problems require honesty and good judgment rather than references to the courts. If this were practiced more in today's business, our courtrooms would not be so crowed and much more business could be transacted for everyone's benefit.

Sir Walter Raleigh said, "It would be an unspeakable advantage, both to the public and private, if men would consider that great truth, that no man is wise or safe, but he that is honest." Those who live by honesty can be sure that there is one less fraud in the world.

It is probable harder to be honest with ourselves than it is to be honest with other people, but honesty is an individual thing and requires that we be honest - especially with ourselves. There are certain requisites for wise and honest living. We must build on hope, not on fear; on justice, not on injustice; on public tranquility, not on violence. We must weave a social fabric in which the most important strands are a devotion to truth and a commitment to doing the right things. There are the essential ingredients of honesty and the good life. The are the necessary conditions for the achievement of freedom and human progress throughout the entire world.

Walking Cuts Blood Pressure

Thirty minutes of walking three times a week may be enough to help lower blood pressure and start
you on the path to better health.

A study shows that even a little bit of weekly exercise is enough to lower blood pressure and improve overall fitness. The results showed that 30 minutes of walking three times a week, even if it was broken into 10-minute walks throughout the day, was enough to have a healthy effect on blood pressure as well as measurements around the waist and hip.

National guidelines recommend that people exercise at least 30 minutes a day on most days of the week to maintain optimum health. But few people achieve that goal, citing lack of time as the biggest obstacle.Researchers say these results may help motivate people to fit in even a little exercise here and there to benefit their health.

Even a Little Exercise Helps
In the study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, researchers invited 106 healthy but sedentary civil servants to take part in an exercise program for 12 weeks. About a third were told to briskly walk for 30 minutes, five days a week. Another third were told to briskly walk for 30 minutes a day, three days a week; the remaining third were told not to change their sedentary lifestyle at all.

The participants wore pedometers to monitor their walking, and researchers measured their blood pressure, blood cholesterol, weight, hip and waist size, and overall fitness before and after the study.
The results showed systolic (the top number) blood pressure dropped, and waist and hip measurements shrunk significantly, in both the three-day-a-week and five-day-a-week exercise groups.

Systolic blood pressure dropped by 5 points among those who exercised three days a week and by 6 points among those who exercised five days a week.

Waist and hip measurements fell by 2.6 centimeters and 2.4 centimeters respectively among the three-day-a-week exercisers and by 2.5 centimeters and 2.2 centimeters among the five-day-a-week exercise group.

No changes were found in the sedentary group.

A decrease of a few points in blood pressure and a few centimeters in the waist and hips is enough to significantly reduce the risk of death due to heart disease. They say the study shows even moderate exercise below the recommended levels can still have benefits.