Do you have what it takes to fly?
BASIC OPERATING SYSTEM
Agree or disagree: you were borne with everything you need. Not that you could survive on your own, but that you were born with everything you needed. It’s a subtle difference, but bear with me. When you were a baby, you knew how to get what you needed from the people around you. By crying or cooing, you got what you needed to survive or you wouldn’t be here. You knew how to join the tribe and win the benefits of its protection. And you possess unique qualities that make the tribe value you. The same is still true even now. You may not realize it, but you’re meeting your needs in a pretty sophisticated way whether you’re aware of it or not.
Trouble is, this basic operating system we’re all given is only optimized for survival. And if you haven’t noticed, misery is survivable. Even unspeakable misery. Maybe you’ve seen someone that seems to be miserable all the time, for years on end? If you want to reliably avoid misery or, better yet be thrilled about life no matter its ups and downs, you need to use more than the basic operating system. The extra ingredient, or the ‘software update’ if you will is AWARENESS. AWARENESS is like a seed. Once it sprouts, it can be cultivated. We can help it along and it will bear fruit.
Think of the basic operating system this way: if it gets hot, you sweat. Cold, you shiver. This automatic system works emotionally too! If you start to feel ignored, insignificant, invisible, you might get loud, or violent, or you might cry or throw another kind of fit and you won’t be ignored for long… But each state (hot, cold, ignored and insignificant) is creeping into the miserable category, and your body does, AUTOMATICALLY, what it needs to rebalance.
This kind of life is workable and its how most people operate but its just bouncing off of different miseries. Eventually you develop an instinct for what to avoid and you just wind up living ‘flat’. What I mean is if you instinctively avoid the ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ of life you might stay comfortable, but you miss out on all the good stuff that happens in the sun, the rain and the snow!
If the thought occurred to you to do something about these uncomfortable situations, congratulations! You already possess some AWARENESS. But before you get too cocky, think of this: have you ever seen a child shivering and refuse to put on a jacket? Where are my parents and babysitters here? How about had an argument with your significant other when they were ‘hangry’ (I know you would never get hangry). Those are examples of individuals operating AT THE LIMITS OF THEIR AWARENESS!
Think of more advanced versions of this: have you ever seen someone who’s broke make a big purchase on a credit card? Or how about someone with a weight problem eating fast food? These aren’t bad people and they may be every bit as smart as the rest of us or smarter. But they MAY be operating at the limits of their awareness. In this case they are meeting a need they are unaware of that is more important to them than the one they are violating. For example the short term need for pleasure over the long term need for financial or physical health.
Before we curse our Basic Operating System, let’s remember how much ground it covers and that it ads a TON of value. Don't forget what a tall order survival has been for most of the last two million years, and how nice it is to not have to remind ourselves to sweat when it gets too hot… But if you want to start enjoying this machine you’re living. This body, this mind you’ve been gifted. You eventually have to cultivate your awareness in order to move beyond the basics and into something a whole lot more fun. You’ve got to ask yourself, Do you want to be the airplane or the pilot or both? Airplanes these days can launch and land themselves. All the fun of flying happens when you plot the course and take the controls.