A Blessing or a Curse?
I heard recently that a human’s ability to adapt is both a blessing and a curse. Adaptability is a blessing because we can cope and make things work. It’s a curse because we can cope and make things work.
It’s instinctive for us to adapt.
Our innate talent for dealing with current realities can habituate us to accept present circumstances while obscuring our awareness to other, better options.
This faculty has served humankind well. It has been a critical player in getting our human species to ‘Now.’ The trick is to recognize when we have adapted to a situation or circumstance that we don’t really want. Because our adaptability muscle tends to be genetically strong, it can unconsciously strong-arm us into compliance.
Things like cultural, business and family norms are all present and powerful adaptations; it’s easy to get pulled into their current and move along with them regardless of suitability.
The counterbalancing skill to this adaptability is Awareness. We become more aware by honestly asking ourselves important questions: Is this (situation, modus operandi) really working? Am I thriving? Am I happy?
If the answer is, “No,” or “Not really,” then settling is not in your best interest. It’s here that the adaptability habit needs to be challenged. Seeking other options and breaking free of the default is where the skill of Awareness comes in. In essence, Awareness and conscious action are the mechanisms for moving beyond the status quo. Adaptation is a great skill to possess. A greater skill is the cultivation of Awareness—to recognize if and when our adapting behavior has become a blessing . . . or a curse.
Time to break away from the status quo?