June 2008 - Our Natural Instinct for Survival

This is the seventh Father’s Day to come and go since my father passed away. He died in March 2001, and I will always remember the year because he wasn’t there to talk to that September when Twin Towers fell. I wanted to hear his words of wisdom, but I was also glad he never lived to see our nation wounded so. That was one of the first times, of many since, when I realized I would never hear his advice out loud again. Still, wisdom he offered me throughout his life still applies.

My father once gave me a magazine clipping of a parable about a farmer and an old mule. One day, the mule fell into the well. The farmer sympathized, but could figure no way to feasibly save the mule or the well. He called his neighbors, and asked them to help him haul dirt to bury the mule in the well and put it out of its misery.

The mule became hysterical as the dirt fell, and when a shovel load of dirt fell on its back, it shook off the dirt and stepped up on it. Noticing this, the mule continued. No matter how painful the blows, the mule just kept right on shaking it off and stepping up.

Soon enough, the old mule, battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly over the wall of the well. What seemed like it would bury him actually blessed him, all because of the manner in which he handled his adversity.

Daddy always had a way of making issues clear for me. This simple parable, now on yellowing paper riddled with thumbtack holes, reminds me that I can handle whatever comes my way. The key to endurance and survival in life is your ability to shake off whatever comes at you, and rise above it.

What I like about the parable is that the mule’s natural instinct for survival is what prompts it to shake off the dirt and step up. The mule isn’t particularly wise, isn’t a thoroughbred, isn’t "special" or "educated." By its own natural instinct, the mule does what needs to be done to survive. This point of the parable is clear.

But, sometimes, I focus on the thought that the mule survives, but the farmer has filled his well -- a life source for a farm. Did he have to re-dig the well? Did his neighbors help with that too?

It’s points like these that I’d like to discuss with my father now, but still, I do get the point he was making. No matter what the complications of the world are, the stubborn mule has the natural instinct to survive it.

On a fairly regular basis, we get calls, emails or mail asking why we don’t cover "issues" like politics, injustices, environmental abuses, causes etc. Meanwhile, we also get calls and notes of critical input on the validity of natural remedies or home schooling. A recent comment suggested that we have a duty to use our publication to influence our audience to respond to injustices...

When columnists suggest alternatives to pharmaceuticals, or standard education, or processed foods, we’re slipping across that "non-controversial" line.

When we discuss recycling, better nutrition, better budgeting, financial plans, and parenting, we are addressing issues of poor health, obesity, diabetes, economics, environment, health care costs, the housing market, domestic abuse, childhood education, mental stress.

When we write about regional destinations or musical outlets, and even when we design advertisements for our clients, we are working to influence our readers to support these endeavors and businesses.

I can say we try very hard not to focus on the dirt being tossed down the well by the world. We’re trying to tap into our natural instincts and abilities to shake it off and step up, and... We’re trying to share what we learn about this process with our readers.

Yes, there are problems with the world. But, I believe if we learn to make educated decisions about money, nutrition, budgeting... Find ways to develop love and laughter and quality relationships in our lives with others and with our environment... Enjoy and value simple pleasures and simple solutions... We will survive and some day find solutions to our bigger problems.

Norman Vincent Peale, author of The Power of Positive Thinking said, "Change your thoughts and you change your world." We can change our world by beginning with change in our own lives. Henry David Thoreau (my favorite writer) said, "Things do not change; we change."

The mule didn’t change the well, he didn’t change the dirt, or the farmer, or the neighbors. He simply changed his behavior -- by following his natural instinct to survive.

Two-Lane Livin’ isn’t here to change the world. We simply hope to provide readers with educational, entertaining and enlightening information. But, if one person lives longer by improving his or her health, if one child has greater potential because his or her parents took a little extra time, if one reader begins recycling or reusing... Who knows what changes in our world will result?