Once there were these birds, cats, and dogs. To put it mildly, they weren’t very friendly.
The dogs would mess with the cats, the cats would eat the birds, and the birds were always living in fear.
Then one day, a bird had an idea. He went down and asked to speak with the head cat. He suggested an agreement.
Since the birds usually sat atop some tall trees, they could see the dogs long before they got close to the cats.
They suggested that they would spend part of their day keeping watch for the dogs, and alert the cats when the dogs were making a move.
In return, the cats would only eat mice, leaving the birds free to scavenge for food.
They agreed, and it worked out. The cats prospered, the birds prospered, and the dogs didn’t really know what was going on, they just knew it was harder and harder to get cats.
Then one day, a bird was sitting on a particularly low branch, after having eaten a particularly large mouse.
Suddenly a cat, who’d been creeping up behind him, slashed his throat.
While the bird lay there bleeding to death, he looked up at the cat in shock.
“Why?”
The cat looked at him sadly, and said, “Sorry, friend, but it’s my nature. I can’t help it.”
What’s the moral of the story? There’s plenty of them. Let’s look at a couple.
Firstly, all animals are jam packed with instincts, that collectively make up their “nature,” and humans are no different, at least in that respect.
But one thing that humans also have is the capacity to learn. For a long while, (and to some extent) scientists believed that humans had few instincts, but only learning capability.
Nurture over nature.
But more and more of them realize we’ve got both. You don’t HAVE to choose nurture OR nature.
We’ve got both.
Not only can you learn to do anything, freeing yourself from any ideas of fate or destiny, but you’ve also got to acknowledge your own instincts, which are common to all people.
A hard wired desire for food, safety, sexual and emotional expression, and money. Wealth. Something you can use to trade with others to get the things you want.
When what you can create with your conscious intentions is virtually limitless.
Especially if they’re congruent with your hard wired instincts and triggers.
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