October 16, 2025- Thrive, rather than survive

All those mental circuits that used to fire so clearly are trying their best to relate to this entirely changed world.

~Megan Devine

We can panic, or we can think, but we can’t do both. When we attempt to navigate this life in a constant state of survival mode, there is a whole lot of panic, and precious little thought. We will tend to approach every situation as if we’ve already lived it. We will do what we have always done in similar circumstances, knowing that, if we survived at once, this reaction should allow us to survive it again.

This points to the power and the importance of our habits. If what we have always done has served us well, if it is similar to what the best version of us would do in that moment, we should find success. However, if our habitual behaviors are not aligned with our dreams and our intentions, these thoughtless reactions will take us farther away from where we would like to be.

Additionally, in a panic response, we can completely miss the novelty of the moment. We can fail to see the nuances of how our changing world sets the stage for something slightly new, asking us to respond in a slightly new way.

Let’s take enough time and inhale enough breath to think, rather than panic. Let’s thrive, rather than survive.