by Pat Antonopoulos
"Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person."
Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler
Found this quote on one of my mini-mountains of paper---those scraps where I scribble bits and pieces of wisdom. Other scraps told me that I was thinking about evolution when I started clipping these bits together.
Evolution in the natural world created the perfect match of trumpet flower and hummingbird. The giraffes' size and neck allow the animal to eat what other animals can not reach. Adaptations of the physical world--adaptations that are 'finding voice' of survival.
Finding our emotional and spiritual voice is more difficult. Finding that voice is a level of self-direction, of becoming our own ideal. Matching behavior with the values we want to emulate is a daily challenge.
Our lives take us into places we had not imagined, with people we would not choose and in we ways we could not have predicted. The becoming can be a challenge. Our evolution can get bogged by the weight of circumstance.
Self-direction chosen by our will and our spirit can be supported by a circle of friends, enriching one another with strength of purpose and the courage of truth. Finding the group that nourishes where we hunger can help us become the right person---the person we choose to be.
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2 comments:
Pat, don't forget that we people are part of the natural world, and life doesn't always proceed so smoothly for the evolution of animals and plants. Some species cannot adapt and then there are fewer and few of them. Some species adapt so well that they take over: think kudzu, cock roaches, human beings...
But perhaps the very imperfections are part of the charm of the world and the charm of life in it.
Betsy
Your comment takes me to thoughts of maladaptive humans, Betsy, if we can classify mental dis-ease as maladaptive. In the natural world, species diminish when they cannot adapt to surroundings. Mental illness prevents humans from flowing with the species. Heartbreaking.
If a loved one has a devastating physical disease, we often react with compassionate adaptive measures. When the imperfection is mental or emotional, the response can be very different. Thank you for opening this dialog.
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