“No wild animal has ever participated in a should.” – Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life
Humans get lost in shoulds all the time. Lost in the moment and lost in life. I should attend that social function that I really don’t have any interest in. I should buy a car like Mike’s. I should climb higher up the corporate ladder. I should, I should, I should. From the same book – “Shoulds are full of traps – traps laid by society and your limited rules for yourself.” Traps we thoughtlessly and willingly walk into all the time.
Wild animals, on the other hand, do what they instinctively know is the thing they “should” do. Lions are social creatures and spend their lives in prides, for example. Bears are on the other end of the spectrum and live the majority of their lives alone. Bears don’t seek out a group of friends because they should. Lions don’t ask themselves if they should be more like bears and wander alone. They’re each instinctively wired and behave that way without a second thought.
The thing is we have the same wiring deep within us, I believe. We know how we’re wired. To be with, to become, to live out our unique gifts, to be wildly and weirdly ourselves. It’s all in us, the noise of the shoulds just drowns it out. So slow down. Pay attention. What do you love? Why do you love it? In what direction are you wired to go? What’s stopping you?
Less shoulds, more tuning in. That’s how we find our wild way.
BUILT TO LEAD 