What separates man from beast

Do you know what distinguishes you as a human being? Standing? Opposable thumb? Idiom? The ability to speak?

These may seem like good answers, but there is an exception to all of them. In fact, in my opinion, the characteristic that truly separates us from animals is our ability to be creative. Some might argue with me on that point and say that it is our ability to reason.

Now, I certainly wouldn’t deny that our ability to use logic and reasoning and all that left-brain stuff is unique, but I think what really makes us stand out is more our ability to use the right side of our brain: the right side of our brain. creative. side. Animals have reactionary minds; humans are born with creative minds, but they often function from the basic reactionary mind of animals. If you can learn to recognize what you are using and switch to the most powerful creative mind, you can make a difference in living more joyfully.

What happens when you throw a ball to a dog or dangle a piece of string in front of a cat? They usually chase him, right? This is a classic example of stimulus-response. something happens
(a stimulus) and the animal responds (either by instinct or by conditioned learning). Not much thought is given to this type of situation.

As humans, we also do this. Think about how many things you instinctively or conditionally respond to every day that you don’t think much about. Here are some examples:

• The alarm goes off in the morning and you reach over to press “off” (or “snooze”)
• You go downstairs and automatically light a cigarette or make a cup of coffee.
• You look at the clock, notice that it’s time to go and your son isn’t ready yet, so you yell at him to hurry up “or else.”
• On the commute to work, you stop by Krispy Kreme and smell the donuts or see the “hot donuts” sign on and suddenly have a craving for one.
• You arrive at your desk at work and immediately turn on your computer.
• Your co-worker “Bob” walks by and you feel the resentment building up again because he got the promotion you wanted.
• You get a call from your new boyfriend and you feel butterflies in your stomach and a smile on your face.
• You walk past Cindy’s desk, see the candy dish, reach over to grab a piece, unwrap it, and pop it into your mouth.

Get the idea? All of your actions in these examples were based on some kind of external stimulus. There were no new or creative thoughts, you were simply reacting to your surroundings.

WHO IS RUNNING THIS SHIP, ANYWAY?
Now, many of our “autopilot” activities can be useful, saving us time and mental energy by not having to “reinvent the wheel” for the mundane and familiar things we do every day.

However, sometimes we get stuck in patterns that harm us or stifle our growth.

Instead of living our lives, our lives are living us. We move through our days being so influenced by our environment that we are tossed around like a ship without sail or rudder, at the mercy of the current and the wind. Before we know it, we are thrown over rocks or into a foreign, often hostile land, and we don’t know how to get back home.

There’s a saying I learned years ago that really stood out to me:

“First we shape our clothes, then our clothes shape us.”
How true is that? What habits have formed you?

Even better than that was one I recently heard from a motivational speaker, Mike Littman:
“People form habits and habits form futures.”

What future are your habits shaping for you? Where will your current clothes take you in 1 year? 5 years? 10 years? Will you want to be there?

This is the result of becoming too reactionary in our daily lives and stifling our creativity. Doing things the same way seems easier than thinking of new actions or responses to what
it happens all around us. Unfortunately, this begins to put us in “victim” mode, at the apparent mercy of other people or events over which we have no control.

But this is a dangerously false perception and belief that deprives us of choice and power over our lives. And with choice and power goes our birthright: joy and passion!

IT’S NOT WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU, BUT WHAT YOU DO WITH IT
That’s right, a life of joy and passion is YOUR birthright. That’s why you were born with a creative mind. You are not tied to the simple stimulus-response of your instinctual nature, like an animal. You are a powerful being with an unlimited mind! Yes, even you! Don’t sell yourself shorts.

Steve Covey wrote: “Between the stimulus and the response lies the choice.”I love this saying. When you allow yourself to stop long enough after a stimulus occurs to engage your creative mind, you access the power of choice.

The reactionary mind cannot achieve this; only the creative mind can do it.

BEYOND STIMULUS-RESPONSEAnd even beyond stimulus-response, the creative human mind can imagine things that have not yet manifested and bring them into existence.

What were once just dreams, images and ideas in someone’s mind, have been fulfilled:

• Sailing across the ocean to a new land and proving the world was round
• Building a bridge across miles of water
• Make a vehicle to let man fly
• Create a device to talk to each other over the air
• Invent a machine to replace the horse and carriage
• send a man to the moon
• Free a group of enslaved people from slavery
• building your own business
• Lose 50 pounds and live a healthier, more active lifestyle

Big or small, personal or public, it doesn’t matter. All she took was

dreaming No animal could have accomplished any of these amazing feats.

“Some men look at what it is and ask, ‘Why?’ I look at things that are not yet and ask, ‘Why not?'” –Robert F. Kennedy

This week we will be celebrating the anniversary of our country’s independence from a country that we felt was stifling our creativity and right to choose. I encourage you to make this YOUR Independence Day.

Come into your power. Claim your birthright. Think about where you are in your life. Are you living fully, with joy and passion? If not, what would allow him to do that?

Get out of the fog and resignation of “what is” and set your sights on “what could be”. Reconnect with forgotten or discarded dreams, rekindle the spark of desire, turn up the heat, and let that energy drive your daily actions. He yells, “Look out world, here I come!

(PS: those of us who are already moving in that stream of creative consciousness are waiting for you to join us. 🙂

Need help getting into (or staying in) your power to live life in Creative vs. reactionary way?

I offer several in-person and remote coaching options that will help you learn, use and incorporate the previous lesson. Your consultation is FREE, so you have nothing to lose (except
unwanted clothes!). I also offer an “Unconditional Happiness Guarantee” on select programs.

Even if you are not in the Virginia Beach area, you can still benefit from my hypnosis services and recordings. Contact me for a free consultation and for more information at [email protected] or call 757-631-9940.