TAP FAQs

Q: How does movement, play or exercise serve? How is 5 minutes of movement patriotic?

A: Stress is weakening our country and our society. Exercise has been proven in countless research studies to help us cope with stress and improve our daily lives. In a six-year study of more than 46,000 workers, depression and unmanaged stress emerged as the costliest risk factors in terms of medical expenditures. And, according to the American Institute of Stress, 75 to 90 percent of all doctor visits are stress-related.

Stress causes adrenaline to pour into the blood stream as part of our fight or flight response and muscles throughout the body tense in anticipation of a challenge. In primitive times, we would outrun the bear when experiencing this stress. However, today we experience stress differently and many of us don’t have regular physical releases for our stress.

We all have experienced the ravages of stress on our well-being. We can not eliminate stress from our daily lives in modern society completely. The good news is that play, movement, and exercise have been proven to improve energy, mood, and benefit the nervous and immune systems. Of course, we can also experience improvements in cardiovascular conditioning, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility and balance.

Regular physical activity can help counter the potentially damaging effects of stress on the body and may help prevent stress-related illnesses, says John McCarthy, executive director of the International Health Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA). These activities provide a natural way to release tension in the body and will often lead to an automatic state of relaxation that naturally follows a good workout. Most of us already know the physical benefits of exercise, and still some of us choose not to move our bodies on a regular basis. Understanding that the health, confidence, enthusiasm, and innovation we gain from movement is not only for our personal good, but for the greater good, may be just the inspiration we need to get out butts off the couch. Considering the sacrifices some Americans are making, 5 minutes a day of movement seems like an easy thing to do. Strong citizens create a strong democracy.

Q: Why take time and energy to learn about, or act from, the value of Tolerance? What is Tolerance and why is it important to patriotism?

A: To be strong as individuals, families, communities, as a country, and as a beacon of light for our planet, we must understand and appreciate the richness and diversity of our collective society. According to the United Nations, Tolerance is the following:

“Tolerance is respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world’s cultures, our forms of expression and ways of being human. It is fostered by knowledge, openness, communication and freedom of thought, conscience and belief. Tolerance is harmony in difference. It is not only a moral duty, it is also a political and legal requirement. Tolerance, the virtue that makes peace possible, contributes to the replacement of the culture of war by a culture of peace…

Consistent with respect for human rights, the practice of tolerance does not mean toleration of social injustice or the abandonment or weakening of one’s convictions. It means that one is free to adhere to one’s own convictions and accepts that others adhere to theirs. It means accepting the fact that human beings, naturally diverse in their appearance, situation, speech, behaviour and values, have the right to live in peace and to be as they are. It also means that one’s views are not to be imposed on others.” -Declaration on Principles of Tolerance, adopted by acclamation on 16 November 1985 at the twenty-eighth session of the UNESCO General Conference.

Q: Why take time in our lives to play, move, draw, create, make music? How does my doing these seemingly small things help our country and those who serve our country in any way?

A: To serve America, we begin by transforming ourselves, our families, and our communities. Creating a truly democratic and patriotic society will require us to each be innovative, energetic, enthusiastic, confident, connected, and able to think creatively and critically. To be truly democratic and patriotic, we need to take time in our lives to play, to move, and to create.