When I'm in the woods and a squirrel starts barking at me, I appreciate his or her moral obligation to their species.
I'm likely giving squirrels way too much credit here, they're probably just antagonists, but if that individual varmint was concerned solely on their survival, they wouldn't hang around and make a commotion. My thoughts are they would scour back into their den. For the subliminal sake of alerting their neighbors of danger, they strap on a cape and bark at the presumed predator. Barking for the greater good of the squirrel kingdom.
You may see this transition coming already or you may have stopped reading by now, but with a political season, pandemic and social turmoil upon us and at the same time everyone having a beacon to blast their message at their fingertips, I think there is a simple lesson to be learned from our furry little friends.
I've written about Fillers vs. Drainers before. I've also written about Chicken Little before. What I'm trying to convey here funnels back to the concept that each of us has a choice when using our words. We can be sheep and regurgitate what the big media outlets tell us or we can bring positivity to our interactions with each other.
I'm not political by any means, but I know there is a lot of talk about politicians not being bi-partisan and a country divided. Don't pass the buck and point fingers about that if you yourself are divisional in your talk throughout the day. If you start a sentence with "I really don't understand how they believe.....", then take a second and try to think through it before posting or making an absolutist statement in a discussion. It will add validity to your opinions.
Ultimately what I'm trying to get across atop this soapbox is that we are human first and political affiliation second. If you allow your political opinions to guide or affect what relationships you maintain, I would argue you're living in a divisional bubble.
Our species doesn't exist because of politics or who lives in a white house, it's based on looking out for your neighbor and loving up on people.
Final statement, when your innate senses tell you danger is near, use your barking for the greater good, not to try to get your team to win. Yep.
New in my life: Long winters are challenging and good for mental physique. Missing mast crops and field edges. Quality time + words of recognition + sweet and spicy = 2.
Keep smilin'
JM
