Animals are designed with instincts beginning with
self-preservation and pro-creation. All animals need to absorb nourishment to
stay alive and breed to perpetuate their species.
Moving up the food chain we see animals absorbing
nourishment by eating other animals. Some animals are territorial and live in
groups. Some are warm blooded like mammals and birds and seem to have emotions
and share some of our abilities to learn and communicate.
At the top of the food chain, humans are the animal that we
should be the most familiar with. We have instincts and hormones for survival
and procreation. We prefer comfort and security and live in groups. Many of us
are curious and also like learning and accomplishment.
Most human beings hope that after this short life they will
continue in some spiritual form to exist after they die. Most have religious
beliefs to support their desire for immortality. We look at our complexity and
reason that we have been created to accomplish certain things with our life.
I marvel at our existence and the human body’s ability to
heal and maintain itself. Our bodies include a complex system of chemicals and
processes that keep us alive and functioning and unique. I am amazed at what we
have accomplished and disappointed at our failures. I marvel at the earth’s
ability to enable us to sustain ourselves and I marvel at the universe in its
beauty and power.
Human behavior is more complex and includes higher mental
abilities than other animals. We are all similar in our aspirations, but are
free to choose our behavior and that makes us diverse. We have unique emotional
reactions and unique emotional needs. We can choose to change our behavior, but
we often don’t. Our aspirations vary and our needs vary and we are prone to
conflict. We appreciate kindness and agreement and feel secure in our cocoon.
We seek out like-minded people. Our free will allows us to choose our actions
and beliefs. We are prone to make mistakes and we are fragile. We can learn from our mistakes, choose to
improve and eliminate self-destructive, self-limiting behaviors, but it takes
self-discipline, courage, honesty and effort.
We are blessed to be living at a time when we can examine
our human history and gather the evidence to show clearly what our errors and
our accomplishments have been and use these lessons to chart our path forward.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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