I hadn’t thought of it this way. I think you’re right. I like very much that adapting is part of our peaceable nature.

Many thanks for your comment.

You made a couple of points that I almost automatically tied together.

First, the animal instinct. Second, the ability to adapt.

I do think it is a ‘second nature’ instinct to adapt initially rather than to seek change. I think that is one basis for why people accept war or other extremes of behavior. It seems they try to live within the situation rather than be those effecting change. In the example of war, only after enough people have reached a level of intolerance does the war cease.

Maybe the instinct to adapt is our natural, peaceable nature. Which we might also have to learn to use to its best advantage.

Those caveats are very important.

You make excellent points and, as usual, they are well put.

Thanks for commenting once again.

It sounds like you’re on quite a journey. And that you have a wonderful companion for it.

I look forward to hearing more about it if you leave more comments.

Thanks for your comment.

The greatest feature of our adaptability is our self-awareness. Most species have some adaptability, but we can consciously direct our mental/emotional adaptation, if we choose to. Of course, there are two HUGE caveats there: First, we are limited by our awareness. If we aren’t in the habit of watching ourselves, we merely react, and don’t realize what’s going on until much later.
Second, you have to be willing to face deeply unpleasant truths in order to have the knowledge you need to proceed correctly. If you know that taking the easy way out will hurt later on, but don’t admit it to yourself…. we all know what will happen

I tend to focus on working from the inside out. If you don’t like what’s going on, you have several different ways that you can try to improve yourself to beat the problem back, learn to be flexible enough to be happy with it, or rise above the matter entirely.

But, although you can do all of these, that doesn’t mean that you can’t or shouldn’t make a change in the world around you. The worlds within your mind and the world around you are reflections of one another. The fact that you are presented with this can be viewed in many ways, but ultimately it comes down to a choice about how you want your world to be. Do you want to be a veritable marauder who tramples on others? Do you want to be a doormat and let the world trample you? How about being a diplomat?

When you’re looking to improve your life, it can be very easy to fall into the trap of exclusively looking at and working on yourself, but to do so ignores a large part of your life. You’ve learned assertiveness, patience, and compassion? Time to take them for a spin and improve not only your world, but someone else’s as well.

I can say for a fact that there isn’t a thing I would change about my relationship with my wife.From her perspective any way. She is more giving, more understanding, more productive and less demanding of a person than you would ever want in a mate.My self though.

That’s another story. I have lots of work to do in all the categories I’ve mentioned. How I’m changing me is one step at a time I’m working through every one of the improvements needed a little each day. It’s not something that is happening over night. But little by little I can feel and see the results. I just hope my wife can too.