fully and fruitfully human

Recovering humanity encompasses the full range of human experience – fallibility, frailty, and fickleness as well as brilliance, courage, and gritty determination. It calls for a comprehensive engagement on every front, engagement of our whole selves, engagement of the highs and lows that make life rich and interesting, engagement of the challenges that disturb our complacency when we dare to dream, engagement of our unquenchable thirst for freedom as well as of our inescapable dependence on the goodwill, fair-mindedness, and cooperative spirit of others, and engagement in the discipline of intelligent, honest reflection by which we can learn from our experience. It is about being in touch with our deepest longings, being inspired by our highest aspirations, keeping our wits about us, and staying on our toes, aloft but alert, buoyant but with feet still touching the ground. Enlivened by our hearts, compassionate, and truly kind, but also mindful in every sense of the word – aware, attentive, thoughtful, sensible, reality-based, actively practicing self-examination, welcoming feedback, we establish a sturdy foundation strengthened by humility.

Stepping up to the challenge of being fully human is not an undertaking for the faint of heart. When we stake our reputations, security, and wellbeing on interdependence, on daring to imagine what we can accomplish if we work together, on kindling, nurturing, and on encouraging our own and each other’s surprisingly complementary peculiarities, we rouse a sleeping giant. Unleashing raw, unbridled humanity can be a roller coaster ride. Stirring up ardent likes and dislikes; calling forth unrefined, uncensored responses; and emboldening unwieldy forces that are latent within the human heart can be risky. What is most obvious about being human are the many ways that we miss the mark. We are afflicted by bad judgment, fall short of what we sincerely and earnestly intend, or get swept away by incendiary emotionalism. Having been burned in the past by misplaced trust, we are wary of letting our guard down and opening ourselves up to being taken advantage of. Our perceptions are distorted by past trauma, resentment, and fear. We are touchy, suspicious, defensive, cruel, or passive-aggressive. We withdraw into our shells, stonewall, or overreact with hair trigger nastiness or unmerited condemnation. We are easily manipulated by unscrupulous charlatans and demagogues who the flames of an already perilous mob mentality. Nevertheless, the very fact that our humanity is a mixed bag is all the more reason to cherish, cultivate, and count on abundant human goodness and to pursue a full embodiment of that which makes us human – heart and head, vulnerabilities and strengths, the depths of our despair, the heights of our triumphs, and the breadth of our imagination – the entire package.

Unless we show up, come together, do what it takes to follow through, “keep it real”, refuse to pull any punches, and decline dumbing down the truth, we are contributing to the problem by perpetuating the apathy, cynicism, factionalist enmities, and free floating rage that have gotten us where we are. Recovering humanity is about having the courage to put aside the defense mechanisms that get in the way, to let go of the excuses that hold us back, and to leave behind accumulated baggage like wounded pride, jealousy, and retaliatory spitefulness. We thereby approach rather than avoid, advance rather than retreat, and live our way into lives that are characterized by:

●     the robust buoyancy that comes with tapping into the wellspring of innate generosity and goodwill deep within each of us

●     having a solid relationship with evidence-based reality

●     being deftly guided by consideration in two senses of the word: being considerate and considering the facts at hand

●     routinely stepping back, taking a deep breath, and allowing time for circumspection, thereby averting whatever tendencies we might have to be carelessly swept away by emotionalism or impulsiveness

●     benefiting from a big picture perspective

●     using strategic, collaborative intelligence to solve difficult problems

●     playing well with others

●     fostering win/win interpersonal dynamics

●     welcoming the complementary strengths that come with diversity

●     surfacing unsuspected inner resources 

●     recognizing previously unimaginable opportunities

●     accumulating experiences of effectiveness that strengthen self-confidence and increase personal empowerment

●     profiting from ongoing learning