“People are people. Kids are kids. Mosquitos are mosquitos. Squirrels are squirrels.
The squirrels … did not mean any harm when they stole the birdseed you put out … the squirrels were simply doing what they do. They were doing what their nature demanded.
Some people are thieves. Some people are exaggerators. Some people are moody. Some people are exasperatingly friendly. Kids are loud. Mosquitos bite. This is their nature. They are doing what is demanded of them, what’s been ordained for them.” Daily Stoic, December 29, 2023
… So, “being who we are” and “doing what we do” is kinda OK …
… IF you’re a squirrel, a mosquito or a kid or a person with only your Biune brain turned on …
However, some of us would be inclined to think that thieves, exaggerators, excessively moody and otherwise exasperating people need not be endlessly or unconditionally tolerated.
Let’s get real. People are NOT squirrels, adults are NOT children, and if we’re no better than our INSTINCTS dictate – “what Nature demands” [NOTE: “exasperation” is an INSTINCT] – or “Nature ordains”, we submit to a Fateful “Natural Order” of things, which is mainly a stochastic DIS-order.
NOTE: “Ordained” conjures a sense that self-serving actions are sanctionable entitlements with
no strings attached – potentially creating a rogue’s license for mayhem!
In its usual context, “Ordained” implies having already arrived at a pinnacle of self-actualization
on a trajectory toward perfection.
Of course, this misses the prime DS point. Daily Stoic goes on to say:
“Why get angry? Why resent it? Why expect anything different?
It doesn’t change them, but it does change you. It makes you bitter, resentful, tired. Accept them. Adjust to them. Love them.”
We are, thus, reminded that not everybody “Gets It”, but that WE can, personally, — and by all means should TRY – to rise above “what nature demands” or “ordains”.
This is our “Calling” as duly matriculating homo sapiens (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human ) to go and do and BE “all that we can be” … setting an example and hoping others will eventually follow.
Behavior of the “Great Unwashed” will only change when they see a higher purpose and practice modeled to significant advantage or when they encounter negative consequences.
Meanwhile, if you want to act like a squirrel, prepare to settle for peanuts! Quartermaster
