Good morning, everyone ~
It’s 44 degrees at present, here in north-central Florida. Much colder to those of you in more northern states, of course. After the sweltering Summer and very brief Autumn, this low temp is quite a challenge/contrast. The human body cannot adjust that quickly to climate changes; so, beware of the consequences of that shock. Mucous membranes dry out in the colder/dryer air of outside as well as the heated/dry air of indoors. As the old saying goes: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Practise extreme self-care! It’s for everyone’s sake!
We’re also into the “holiday season” ~ parties, get-togethers, family gatherings, special events … . Humans are social creatures, first-n-foremost. Trace human existence as far back as history/science can go, and you’ll discover just how much we humans need each other. For protection, companionship, ability to survive as well as thrive ~ we need each other!
Yet, we are also a collection of tribal discontent/disagreement/greed … and maybe, we’re also a species that simply enjoys being aggressive for no reason at all. The brain (of human as well as animal) discharges dopamine into our brain-body partnership. It’s the fuel that starts the engine of our survival skills/instincts. It’s also our natural pain-killer drug. We get hooked on our own chemistry just as easily as we do any type of street or prescription drug. When that happens, our mind-spirit partnership takes a back seat to behavior. The dopamine ‘monster’ takes control. We blindly follow where our own drugged brain-body leads.
What makes us bond? Oxytocin is the brain chemical that locks us into wanting to be together. Our ‘happy drug’ is at war against our ‘monster drug’. If we bond to a traditional hatred against another person or group, words alone cannot magically change that destructive combination. We bond to violence. Dopamine and oxytocin ‘marry’ despite all the knowledge/understanding of self and/or other we might accumulate. Knowledge is power; absolute power corrupts, absolutely.
Meanwhile, generation after generation of this passive/aggressive history creates bigger/more destructive ways of obtaining our next roll in the hay-field of that destructive ‘marriage’. Mind-spirit, on the other hand, creates fairytales of an alternate reality: happily ever after. It’s a teeter-totter existence that wears us down, individually/collectively, and on every level of our being.
Which is why we need to understand these dynamics of human existence. We cannot find, let alone maintain, a point of balance until we first discover/better understand those two extremes … the internal extremes that live inside each of us. That discovery/understanding is Step 1: Self-training in how to recognize when the teeter goes totter.
Step 2 is harder and longer. This is a life-long step: willingness to keep self-training, especially when the entire brain-body is fueled for survival, even though there is no immediate threat to self. Any news report today, at any time of the day, is enough to fuel that internal chemistry toward tottering into war/violence/argument. Brain-body flip into the chemistry of conflict. Mind-spirit drop away, hit bottom, become almost unable to counter-balance the self. Almost. As with any other type of physical training, the more we train self toward a point-of-balance, the more we enable self to find it all the more quickly, again/again.
Step 3? Teach others what you yourself are learning.
We can have our dopamine and our oxytocin too! Unlike the ease with which we can obtain other commodities, this one requires us to work … to work hard/diligently … to become ever more aware of self and the world around us. Instead of escaping into realms of food, fighting, fleeing from, or being constantly on guard against whoever or whatever might ‘F’ us up, we can be both vigilant/peace-abiding, both surviving/thriving.
Point-of-balance begins with self; it’s an ‘inside job’ that promises greater rewards than any “world power” status can offer. It can be done. We can do it, if we are willing to work from the inside out.
Let there be peace on Earth … AND let it begin with … .World peace?
It’s possible, but not probable any time soon. Too many in today’s population of humans are one-sided, unwilling to even contemplate such things as a personal point-of-balance toward world peace. Yet, those of us who are willing to keep on working/self-training just might make a difference after all. Perhaps not in our lifetime; perhaps not in our grandchildren’s lifetime. Eventually? In a world where all things are possible, it’s possible!
Extreme self-care includes willingness to do whatever work is necessary toward living in a more point-of-balance state, physically/mentally/emotionally/spiritually. As television personality Paige Beck says about her kitchen recipes, “You can do this. I know you can!”
Gentle hugs/much love,
Marian