Has the ability to adapt really brought upon us the greatest of power? Was it really that ability which put us on top of the food chain?
Yes, indeed, the ability to adapt is what separates us from other animals, but if we take the animals out of the equation, what happens then?
Adaptation: to change your behavior so that it is easier to live in a particular place or situation. (Merriam Webster Dictionary)
Is adaptation really the all powerful skill that we possess? Let’s think about this for a moment.
We get all motivated to do something and, lets suppose, set a goal to complete 50 pages of a book. So later in the day, all pumped up to complete the goal we start reading. As we read, distractions start popping up in our mind, and along with those distractions are thoughts. The thoughts I am talking about are those that say:
“I really need a break, I deserve it for I have completed 20 pages.”
“If I go on reading more, I will not be able to motivate myself to do more tomorrow, so for the sake of not maintaining the habit I should call it quits.”
These thoughts, are nothing but excuses, and yet even after fighting the urge to quit, most of us, most of the time, end of quitting. Why do we quit? Our mind adapts to the change that our thoughts are suggesting, which in fact, depletes all the motivation because the mind already sees that it can survive in the new change. Even before we quit, the mind is already living the moments that come after quitting. All of the reasoning that brought up the motivation in the first place are all countered by the mind. And thus, we adapt.
