The New OVERLORD of our Minds

The Canoe vs the Bunker

I grew up next to the Pacific Ocean and with that came all the folklore and stories. As a kid I could answer the 3 big questions.

1. How fast can the weather change? … 20 minutes

2. How many minutes can you survive overboard before hypothermia starts clouding your mind? … 10 minutes

3. How do you warm up someone with hypothermia? … skin on skin

On Saturday morning as kids we would survey the ocean and impress each other with our “great knowledge of the sea.”

“If you take the canoe out today watch out because in 20 minutes a storm could blow up, flip your canoe sending you into the icy waters. Within 10 minutes you will be starting to fade into hypothermia and will need a dramatic skin on skin rescue.”

From a distance you would see solemn nods of heads from the little pack of kids kicking seaweed on the shore.

Today we are still subconsciously and consciously answering the same 3 questions on potentially new topics.

1. How quick can danger come?

2. How long can we survive?

3. What is the best rescue plan?

Take a nuclear crisis. For most people living near a large city they will have around a 12 minute warning once the warhead is launched. Your survival odds are very low. Today there is a hot market for underground bomb shelters that can sustain life for years.

It is crazy that some of you might reach out to me and ask for the link to the bomb shelter company that I came across Spoiler link: One of the general topic vloggers I follow:

While risk management and safety protocols is a necessary component to being a responsible adult there is a downside to having it become our overlord.

1. It is very possible for a group of young children to psych themselves into believing that the ocean is not safe and therefore not develop the skills and competencies needed to enjoy a local world class resource, in my case the Pacific Ocean.

2. It is very possible for adults today to allow prepping and bomb shelters to overlord their thinking, resources and focus, stealing away the very life they presumably are preparing to save.

3. It is very possible to end up standing on the metaphorical shore of life looking with one eye on the sparkling blue ocean of opportunity and adventure and the other on your hydraulic assisted “600lb bullet proof bunker hatch door.”

Each one of us has to manage our thinking and decide for ourselves what our balance will be between the canoe and the bunker.

In the words of Viktor E. Frankl:

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

Steven Falk

P.S. Don’t forget, People Can Change and The Power of Success is in TEAM

Learn How Think Like a World-Class Leader by leveraging neuroplasticity to benefit yourself and your organization. Understand your thoughts, manage your memories and stress.