Let’s set aside the fact that all humans need air to breathe, food to eat, water to drink, and shelter for protection. Those are the basics shared by us all, basics if we are going to stand any chance of surviving.
I thought about this topic of “need” a few weeks ago, helping at a Wilderness Survival Camp. We teach about those basics and the general rule of three minutes without air, three hours without shelter, three days without water, and three weeks without food, and true as those guideposts are, they really miss the heart of the matter concerning human beings and finding a way to navigate through this existence.
You are all lucky, then, that I am here to share a much more important truth with all of you.
I thought of childhood, those early years, formative years, a child’s best shot at making it in life, lessons learned from birth to teen years, how some kids manage to turn out great despite having very little in terms of possessions, while other silver spoon recipients can’t seem to get their act together for most of their adult lives. The obvious conclusion, then, is that possessions have nothing to do with becoming well-adjusted adults. Feel free to argue with me on that point, but I’m telling you right now, I’m right!
20/20 hindsight, my friends, it can’t be beat for seeing all that is truly important.
So, if not possessions, what is it that we all need to achieve true happiness?
I’m going all La La on you right now, and I invite your critiques, but again, I’m pretty damned sure I’m correct about this.
We humans need to be loved and we need to feel safe.
Returning to early childhood for a moment, think about it now, a newborn couldn’t care less about the furnishings in a house, whether that house is rented or owned, what kind of car is in the driveway, what kind of job mom and dad have, none of that superfluous b.s. which adults consider important. All those newborns care about is being held by mom, being talked to by dad, and feeling the comforting safety of a hug.
Maggie is looking at me right now and grinning. Even a dog knows these truths.
Love and safety.
For nine months after my birth, this old man was blind. Several days after being adopted, and nurtured, I could see. What did the doctors surmise? I suffered from “Failure to Thrive Syndrome,” something which can happen to young children when they are not given the warmth and affection they crave after popping out of the womb.
Love and safety.
What’s my point? Come on now, folks, I know you’re smart enough to see the end game of this discussion.
I am beyond sick and tired of the division we see in society today. Arguments over laws and bills and the economy and social status, hell, arguments over sports and entertainment . . . I saw someone on social media the other day calling others derogatory names because they could not agree on who the greatest actress was. And prices increase and the cost of living increases and I swear, there seems to be no chance for the average working stiff to make it, so we call half the voting population names, we curse our leaders, we boycott this and boycott that, point fingers at those who are different from us, rail against the injustices, and we miss the damned point, a point which was obvious when we waddled our way through preschool and kindergarten . . .
We are all the same, and we all just want to be loved and feel safe.
I’m about to get all radical with you, so buckle in and get ready for a rocky ride.
As I write this, the General Election for President is three months away. It dominates the news today, and it will continue to dominate the news every single day until the votes are finally cast, and every one of those votes is cast in hopes that it will be a small fraction of a major change for the better.
Now, I need you to be honest with me. When was the last time we had a General Election which drastically changed your life for the better? I’m talking about your day-to-day existence, the level of comfort you experience daily . . . when was the last time you were affected, in that way?
I’ve been around a long time, survived quite a few national elections, and I say this in all honesty: not once have I felt my life was changed by the results of the election. Of course, long-term, there are sweeping changes which have affected me, but not day-to-day.
However, my life has been changed by friends. It has been changed by loved ones. It has been changed by my economic status, which was directly affected by decisions and actions I took and orchestrated.
Love and safety!
Do you want a major change to occur in your lives? Then you need to make that change happen, and it all begins with you being a loving member of a safe community. I’m talking micro changes which will lead to macro change, and it “takes a village” to make those micro changes.
In other words, stop waiting for someone else to save your ass, and become an active part of the solution.
You know what? If I was walking along on the sidewalk, and the person in front of me had a medical emergency, I wouldn’t ask them if they were Democrat or Republican before deciding to help them. I wouldn’t ask them if they were Christian or Muslim, nor would I ask them if they were rich or poor. I would simply help them because they are human, and I’m willing to bet that 99% of the people walking this planet would do the same. It’s called getting down to basics, and I truly believe that’s what we all need to do going forward. Quit worrying about the trivial crap which divides us and concentrate on the important things which are common for us all.
If we could all do that, if we could all remember a smidgeon of compassion and empathy in our daily lives, then love and safety will be the result, and wouldn’t that be the cat’s meow?
Peace out, dudes and dudettes!
