The Strength In Our Differences

When we look out over our world each morning, we start with a very fundamental choice that dictates how we’ll process that day. We choose whether we’ll move forward with a mindset of defence, or whether we’ll stay open to what the world has to offer us. It is this mindset that determines how effective we’ll be and what we’ll receive from our experiences that day.

Part of our survival instinct as human beings is to look for threats and to defend ourselves against them. It’s one of the most critical instincts that’s allowed our survival thus far. Once upon a time, the part of our brain responsible for reacting to threats would have been on the alert for a sabre-toothed tiger. Today, the same part of our brain that’s responsible for our survival instincts still scans the environment around us — except now it’s evaluating traffic, tone of voice, email content and the actions of the people around us.

Because this instinct is so primal, it’s often left to operate unchecked without us even realising it’s running the show. This can leave us feeling anxious at best, and destroy our ability to find ways forward in all areas of our lives at worst. The good news is that, once it’s pointed out, modern mature awareness allows us to assess and address the world in an entirely new way.

In caveman times, had someone arrived unexpectedly at the door of your cave, which piece of information would you have been most interested…