Weekend Essay 001: Reacting to Reality
‘You have power over your mind- not outside events. Realise this and you will find strength’- Marcus Aurelius
Our reactions make our reality. How we perceive an experience, emotion, even ourselves, all comes down to how we choose to react. When you start to analyse why you are reacting in a certain way, often it boils down to one of four truths.
The First: Biology
At our fundamental core we are animals. Whilst our mind, consciousness and ability to collaborate at scale may give us a sense of humanly divinity, much of how we respond to life is driven by our basic instinct to achieve human needs. We want to survive. Survival means reducing threats and pro-creating. For example, a friend recently read her partner’s text messages, she felt betrayed and jealous or more simply her animal instincts were alerting her that her security and chance of pro-creating were at risk. Our desire to be well liked by our friends, colleagues or even the broader public is driven by our fear of being ostracised from the group and we all know that our chances of survival are greater together than alone. Whilst we live in advanced societies, our intellectual prowess cannot defeat our animalistic essence.
