WARNING: LONG-WINDED... This morning, I ran. While running, I came upon a nest of ants, and instinctively I dodged it. Not necessarily to avoid being bitten, as I know that an ant, no matter how skilled, could possibly hang on to my shoe and climb up my leg to bite me based on the speed at which I was going, but, I believe I avoided the nest due to compassion; not wanting to harm another living thing. As I ran further and assessed my actions, I analyzed that compassion stems from one of two things; emotion or conscience. I went further to think of the couple ants that I must have trampled nearby the nest, even though I avoided the hub, surely I mustve nicked an ant or two on the perimeter. And I thought, I am sure little Johnny Black Ants parents arent wondering how come Johnny didnt make it home this evening. They will not be going through a grieving process over little Johnny Black Ant. They are busy building their nest, instinctively doing what must be done in order to achieve their goal. Each ant plays its part in the construction of the nest, the gathering of the food, etc. Each is doing what it has been programmed to do. I went further in thought about all the other ants I was quite possibly killing along my way with every step I take. Thought also about having inadvertently killed a whole generation of ants and other organisms throughout my entire lifetime. Why was this even important though? All other animals in nature instinctively do what is required of them. A lion will hunt and kill a zebra. A python will hunt and kill rabbit, and an alligator, a swan. We, as humans, watch these acts in person (or on National Geographic) and are incensed by the gruesomeness of the killings throughout nature. Yet, for other animal kind, it isnt even a thought. Its merely survival of the fittest. As humans we have placed ourselves at the top of the hierarchy of the animal kingdom because we have a mind, with thought processes, logic, reasoning, and a heart with compassion, emotion, feeling, and also, arguably the greatest gift of all; conscience. This, we feel, is the superior, distinguishing factor between humankind and all other kinds. But, what if those qualities which we believe to be our greatest assets which supposedly place us at the top of the totempole, are really our greatest weaknesses, which actually place us at the very bottom? If we really think about it, our compassion and conscience are markers that we use to gauge our reactions to situations. One, for me, is emotion driven, the other is a logic prewiring; an instinct of sort. Yet, both, in certain situations may yield the same results. Compassion may cause one to save or take a life. Likewise, so will conscience, depending on the circumstances and the sort of processing or analysis of the situation that takes place by the individual. However, from my musings, compassion creates greater expression of individuality, whereas conscience seems to be an innate knowing of right and wrong, one particular action vs. another. Strange enough, when our conscience kicks in, we find ourselves using such expressions as it just didnt FEEL right to me. So, again, compassion, emotion, FEELing interjects, even in the logical instinctive-ness of what we KNOW to be right or wrong. As humans, I believe that so many times we rely on guidance from our emotions rather than our logic and reason, or instinct, and it takes us completely off-track from the task at hand. It completely consumes us, and we lose focus. We become so swayed, taken up, entrenched in emotion that we are lost, and lose our entire sense of purpose. I am really just expressing here, and quite possibly contradicting myself by becoming a slave to this post, as I have FELT the URGE to write this since running this morning. Its as if I couldnt rest until I got it out. And at the end of the day, what have a really accomplished in doing this? Is expression of feeling, emotion, or conscience a means of survival for US??? Hmmm... ~ Musings of a runner... (Rohan says I shouldnt tag him in this because people are going to think HE has me smoking something. LOL. He doesnt smoke, btw, and neither do I) #surethiswillgooversomeheads #imgoodwiththat
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 00:57:25 +0000
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