People can be out of sorts....

Merle Nelson

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I consider myself a student of human nature. It has been eye opening to watch people react to things in ways that are not in keeping with their usual ways of being.

One of the ways I enjoy thinking of our motivations as humans is through a model called The Six Human Needs. It states that the first human need is for Certainty. Interestingly, once we are all filled up with certainty we get bored and pretty soon we're looking for a roller coaster or something else to break the cycle of boredom. Because, the second human need is for Variety. It goes on.

Well.......there is probably not much better way to undermine certainty in a persons life than to threaten everything and everyone with a global pandemic. Tomorrow what systems and services will stop? Who will die that you know? How long will this go on?

Make sure to give those that are close to you especially, time to go through their emotional ups and downs, their form of learning and growing. I feel like many of us face choices every day that have us ponder death and make decisions based on risks etc. And I notice this is hard on me in ways. For some this is closer to a brand new experience in their lives.

Let's be generous with ourselves and others.
 
Good on you Jim!

Merle, very well said! You've put a lot of my own recent thoughts into words there.
 
Well, I understood some of it...gonna do some reading & may learn what I need... :D
 
My wife won't kiss me good night, my 13 year old is watching preschool t.v shows, my mom is going through her freezer and pantry and funneling it to local family( I ate a loaf and a half of banana bread last weekend), my dad thinks it's a giant hoax and I go to work and do the shopping hoping I don't bring something home to infect everyone. Good times.
 
Indeed I do.
Gloves, washing hands, distancing, N95 mask, very careful through out the day. Not only for myself, but for others as well. Mostly the others. Being an asthmatic, probably a death sentence for me. No need to condemn others.
 
@Merle; Maslow's hierarchy of needs differs from needling certainty as the first basic need no?
 
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  • #23

Looked up "riots" in different ways today. Found this, and skimming, was interested in the fight or flight response kicking in.

I've snapped at my wife in last days at times when I would usually just say "Okay" and let her realize she was wrong about something in her own time - or not. She is snapping at me at odd times and in accentuated ways.
 
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@Merle; Maslow's hierarchy of needs differs from needling certainty as the first basic need no?

I'm not an intellectual, I like things simple but that appear to work. So when I look at Maslow's it appears a little too "stillted" and "life is this way" for me to make much use of. And what I like about the model of The Six Human Needs is it makes it easy for me to see how each person can be so different on any given issue. My oldest sister at one point quit working a secretarial job for her church that she found very rewarding. She did that so she could go to work for the county and get higher pay today and a retirement package in 10 years. I would slit my wrists before making that choice. One of the things I have loved about tree work all through the years is that I can work when I want and not work when I don't want. I have always thought of that as being "semi-retired" from 20 years on. My sister would be in extreme distress if you forced her to do that.

For my sister one of her highest values is financial certainty. For me, I have a much higher value for certainty about my day to day life choices with regard to use of my time and focus.
 
... I would slit my wrists before making that choice. One of the things I have loved about tree work all through the years is that I can work when I want and not work when I don't want... For me, I have a much higher value for certainty about my day to day life choices with regard to use of my time and focus.

LOL! I feel the same way.

People really need to understand, that the time you spend making money, is time, hours of your life, you will never get back. Hours given generally in your physical prime.

It only takes modest effort to survive, it takes considerable more to live life on your own terms.
 
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