We are hard-wired to fight or flee under threat , so it is normal to want to act out in defense when we experience or observe the injustices in today’s world. But when we respond with our primitive, survive mind, it raises the stakes for impulsive and unreasonable reactions and in some cases violence, even death. Our survive brain can colonize our hearts and dwarf our humanity if we continue to allow it—as evidenced by large-scale injustices such as racially motivated murders, hate crimes, violent protests, police brutality, deadly reactions to the COVID-19 lock-down and global terrorism. Survive Mind Versus Thrive Mind We have a choice to permit our lives to be driven by our survive mind’ s violent reactions or drawn from our thrive mind’s calm, compassionate, and clear-minded actions . Our lives are shaped from the inside out. If we lose our inner connection, in small ways and big, our personal lives and the world unravel. It starts with each of us exercising our own
A Compendium of Concepts