An Observation Made Over The Last Few Months

People watching is something that has been a hobby for me a long time. One thing I have observed is that there is something missing from our lives. Indeed, I think that a lot of our today's young people don't even have these words in their vocabularies much less know that these concepts exist. Perhaps it was never been taught to their parents.

The words I speak of are instinct and intuition. What I mean by these is including them in your life. They can help make good decisions or at least avoid making some really big mistakes. Instinct is something that is inborn with each new life. Watch a mother bird with new hatchlings or a mother dog or cat with their newborn litters. You will understand what I mean. These mothers instinctively know what to do and when to do it, how to protect their young and to keep them safe. Yes, I think some of it is learned behavior but not all of it.

Instinct is one of nature's tools for species survival. It is a tool for learning. And it is a tool for interaction. It's knowing what to do in the moment.

Intuition has more to do with the future and is more of an internal reaction of sorts, in my opinion. It's that gut feeling most of us have and usually choose to ignore. It's that feeling deep down inside that you should or should not do something before you do it. It's that something that tells you within yourself something is about to happen. It's that little feeling you get about people you meet. Ever have one of those unexplained times when you absolutely had to do something and with no rhyme or reason you went ahead and did it? It could be that you knew a friend needed your help and you went to them and found out you were right. Or, it could be something you felt you should not do but went ahead and did it anyway and had it end up badly.

I mention these two concepts because I see an extreme lack of them lately. Everybody seems to be trying to live a TV life maybe. You know the kind of thing I mean. Mom and Dad are hurry, hurry, busy with their jobs and careers while at the same time trying to keep things together at home. Plus on top of everything Son has school, a job, and two or three extracurricular activities and a girlfriend (did I forget to mention he's a straight A student?). The same with his Sister. Does anyone in this family have time together to be a family much less get to know each other.

High achievement is laudably a good thing, don't get me wrong. I am in favor of it. To a point. But I also believe in Balanced Living where high achievement, busy-ness, instinct and intuition can cohabitate in harmony.

But what I also see is a lot of unhappy people living together. Is there any wonder why drugs and alcohol are getting worse as a social disease? Is there any wonder why so many people on so many prescription medications for anxiety, pain, depression, high blood pressure and high cholesterol? Is there any wonder why any job title that involves therapy and counseling is predicted to be in high demand for many years to come? Really? Really!

What I see happening is a lack of focus on the basic things of life, getting the priorities right for oneself, and a lack of really asking oneself what is important to oneself.

Each person should ask themselves what is important to them? What has meaning for them? What really matters to them? What makes them happy? Do they like where they are at in life? Do they spend enough time for themselves? Do they spend time with others? Do they spend time helping strangers? The list of questions one could ask themselves is endless. For each person that list will be different from their partner's, their childrens' and everyone else around them.

I have also seen a strange mix in people that I have observed over the past few months lately. That is people seem to be focused solely on themselves and their needs to the exclusion of almost everything else yet at the same time they don't spend any time for themselves. Do that make any sense to anyone? It sounds bizarre, I know.

Anyway, these are just my observations and opinions only. I don't have any theories or suggestions to offer here. I could also be wrong in the interpretation of what I have observed. I don't know. Time will tell though. Think about it.