“We don’t rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.” Although the origin of this is controversial, this lovely quote has the same impact.
We are the result of our training and patterns. We default to what is automatic, quick, and easy. This is what humans do.
If you’ve made a habit of managing your mindset and focusing on being healthy and happy it doesn’t mean that it’s automatic but it’s certainly easier to find our way back along paths that we frequent.
If the name of the game is adaptation then we have to go about the process of changing ourselves to be suited for a specific environment. Keeping in mind that this goes for environments that are dysfunctional and unhealthy too. We can and will normalize fucked up patterns.
I used to do a lot of drinking (and drugs). For many reason, I used societies common lubricant to connect with people, have to even come close to approaching any deeper conversations, or distract myself from the sadness or crippling anxiety that I would sometimes feel.
I got to where I couldn’t really connect without having a few drinks in me. I got to where at the end of my day I would have a shot of whiskey or two (or more) in order to “chill out” and “decompress”. These things eventually came to go hand in hand. I’d adapted to where I could only relax after I’d gone through the emotional and physical process of imbibing.
Do you see the problem here? Do you see where you do this or something like this in your life right now?
I’d trained myself to have a very limited self sufficiency. And I had this kind of thing running in countless areas of my life. We all do this in some way. That was years ago but through training I built a resiliency to be able to stay engaged in challenging social and emotional situations. The key word being trained.
We all need to train our bodies and minds.
Consider this,
The moon has about 17% of the gravity of what it is on the earth.Mars has about 38% of the gravity of what it is on the earth.
Astronauts train in swimming pools to mimic the differences in gravity and in an attempt to experience how that feels. It’s called the neutral buoyancy laboratory. They do this to induce adaptation.
Take a second and consider if it was the other way around and that the moon and mars had greater gravity than earth. How would astronauts need to train in order to prepare for that? Did you know I was a a space enthusiast?
The opportunity:
What are your current patterns inducing adaptation towards?
How much time do you spend, by choice, in challenging situations that are healthy?
Are you adhering to your healthy patterns and rituals right now?