Since the Second World War the world has taken a trip to the ‘Left’, down the road of acceptance, tolerance and inclusion. After a century where over 100 million people lost their lives as a direct result or war and conflict, a change was desperately needed. But have we lost the individual art of Resilience, and is this lost art leading to more conflict?

Humans by nature look primarily to protect themselves from harm. The Fight or Flight reaction was developed over 300,000 years ago when the first humans started to appear and separate from our caveman cousins. Problem is technology and lifestyle has changed so much in 2,000 years and exponentially in the last 200 years that our Fight or Flight type instincts have not caught up.

So where am I going with this? Well the move towards tolerance and acceptance is admirable, and is the only way we will survive as a species long term, but what we can’t lose in this shift is Personal Resilience. The old adage ‘Sticks and Stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me’ has become ‘Sticks and stones will break my bones and names will forever offend me’.

Especially since about the sixties, it has become more and more about an individual’s personal RIGHTS and less and less about their personal RESPONSIBILITIES. Anything that is not in alignment with their perceived rights is therefore a threat to their safety and as such needs to be met with the appropriate fight or flight response. Now that was fine when your RIGHT was to live and not be eaten by a large bear, and your RESPONSIBILITY was to run like hell or grab a spear and defend yourself. The problem is that in today’s modern society RIGHTS have become my right to do and say what I want when I want, or live my life how I want, regardless of how that impacts other people. If then anyone suggests that my actions are actually impacting other people or situations negatively then I become offended and demand my rights. Of course the people who are complaining they have been impacted or offended have the same problem…..and the cycle perpetuates.

Don’t get me wrong, people have rights and should be entitled to live their life in their way, but all rights in the world come with opposite and equal responsibilities, to ensure that our actions do not harm others.

When did my RIGHT to be an arsehole, overtake my RESPONSIBILITY to be a good human being?

The Lost Art of Resilience