3 ways to escape the Saber Tooth Tiger
Our machine is wired for survival.
Our body is a miraculous, life giving, miracle machine that we get to live in.
It’s an incredible technology that serves us, moves us, and enables us to get up and get around. It’s technology that allows us to learn, to live, to laugh, to breathe, to grow. Our heart beats without thought. We breath in air that fuels us, helps heal us and creates new energy — and we don’t even have to try to make that happen. It just does. Breathe.
There is no doubt that we take it far too much for granted. Even though there is so much to be gained by truly understanding how it so tightly integrates with how we perceive and experience the world around us.
There’s one aspect of this in particular that I need to remind myself of often. And when I lose sight of it, there no escape of the swirl and misery I can cause for myself and those around me.
And here it is…
Our biology is amazingly wired to automatically, without thought, and without conscious cause…
- be on guard,
- look for threats,
- and survive.
We have this incredible biological machine that we’re living inside and without thought, without teaching, without even trying, it is poised with the power of creation to be on watch! Poised to be observing and constantly scanning, ready to react, in order to protect, live, and fight another day.
It’s an amazing thing and it’s kept us living and evolving for thousands and thousands of years. Embedded, hard coded, in your operating system right now.
That’s right, that surge of crazy chaotic emotion that floods your body and overwhelms your senses at times? It’s there on purpose and without fail… to get you moving and keep you going!
And quite frankly, you’d likely be even more thankful for all of this if, you know, you were out hunting the jungle with your ancestral tribe, and maybe you got too far out ahead of them, and all of a sudden, leaping from out of nowhere, came an angry surging saber tooth tiger looking for a lunch!
But it’s not a tiger,
instead it’s your unreasonable boss that’s on your last nerve (SURGE!); or the tone that came along with that text that’s firing up your system (SURGE!). That guy driving in front of you? He’s going way to slow! (SURGE!) And its not your tribe, but your team that’s falling behind or quite simply just being difficult to work with! Surge! Threat! Threat! Threat! Frustration, emotion, energy, SABER TOOTH!! GO!
😠😠🤦♂️😬🙄🙋♂️
Look, we’re wired this way.. don’t knock it and don’t think its going to change too quickly. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. The biology is amazing, the hard coding is incredible, so lets be thankful.
We’ve just out paced our evolution that’s all. Biological change is a whole lot slower than technological change, behavior change, or culture change.
And those changes have moved, and are moving fast!
But we’ll get there.
Meanwhile, some help please?
If you’re anything like me though, you could use some help in the meantime. There are just too many things coming in through that iPhone, eMail, everyday interactions or any one of my five senses that activate my Saber Tooth Trigger.
It’s embarrassing to admit, but I bet you feel it too.
Those tiger trigger moments send a jolt of energy through your body. You try to resist, but everything inside tends to go red. The surge sends you into some kind of emotional alert mode and either you swirl, succumb, run or boil. And none of those options do us much good without a real tiger, really chasing.
Then from there, everything begins to change. Day ruined. Feelings hurt.
Not worth it. Need help. Please send help. 🙋♂️
Three Steps to Safety
Here’s a quick three step process that has done wonders for me. And listen, I’m still working on it! It takes practice. Like anything you do when you’re trying to develop new habits, learn a skill or overcome momentum. You gotta keep at it. You gotta practice it. The good news however is this… it seems, we have plenty of opportunities to give it a try 😬🤦♂️😁.
When that tiger trigger hits…..
- Admit it: Embrace the surge, do not resist. Hold on.
- Feel it: Be Aware, this is how you’re designed, let it flow through.
- Shift it: Pause, Ask yourself, Apply your will, Shift.
Quickly, here’s what this means:
Admit It
I could write a whole post on the phrase “Aren’t I better than this?”. I’d bet you say that too. We don’t like to admit our shortcomings, even to ourselves. And especially when we’ve wrestled with it over and over (and over and over 🤦♂️). Knowing means admitting… you just expect it.
Look you’ve got thousands of years going against you here. Just admit it, the surge, the jolt, the trigger is going to get you. Don’t resist it.
Now this doesn’t mean to respond and react. It just means the surge is going to come. Admit it, and let it. Just set your expectations accordingly. There is freedom in admitting. There is freedom in letting go and knowing. Not acting on it, just saying “oh, I know this.. its just a part of me. Glad its not a saber tooth right now”.
Know it, expect it, its okay, let it happen.
Let the freedom of not resisting and not immediately reacting empower you to what’s next.
Feel it
Yeah, I know. I hear you… “Jeff, you should have tried harder.. this is horrible advice” 😂🤷♂️ .
The thing is, if you can feel it, you can change it (the next and final step!). If you can feel it that must mean you are separate from it! Follow me?
The feeling isn’t you. The feeling is happening, and you’re the one experiencing it. You are separate from it, observing it, seeing it happen, feeling it. Which means.. you got this. You have choices, decisions and the ability to act, react or let it flow through.
It’s up to you.
Because you already did step one, you knew you had it in you and something was bound create a jolt (you admitted it). So when the tiger trigger surges, just feel it. “There it is!”, “Ah, I knew this would happen.”.. then let it flow right on through. Don’t keep it, don’t resist it, don’t fight back.
Be aware of it, embrace it in the moment, and let it flow while moving onto the final step. You are not that emotion. You are separate from it. Now choose!
Shift It
Yeah, right. Easy. Why didn’t you just start with this??? :-) I know.
The deal is, you have to Admit it and Feel it before you can Shift it. All of this happens in seconds, you you’ve got to be ready (thus the practice!).
But to Shift it, the prep work has to have been done.
You’ve got to be in the right place inside to have the awareness to know whats happening. Then you’ve got to let that surge have its mojo so it can flow and go. It needs to be able to flow through.
So, quick review on the lead up:
1) you’re not surprised at what’s going on — you’ve admitted it. You know this how we are designed and that this moment could happen.
2) You’re Aware, you feel it happening. You are observing, not reacting, just feeling and letting it flow.
Still, its in there and the electricity is real.
This is the crucial moment of pause. Perhaps the most important moment in this entire process..
Pause.
Your body and mind sees and feels the Saber. The Tiger. The Teeth.
But it’s not. Pause and take a breath. Then ask…
“What’s really happening here? Is my life threatened? Is there a wild beast surging towards me? Will reacting like my body is telling me to react right now going serve me well?”
Chances are the answer is, “no”. So listen to yourself. Chances are letting go and moving on through is 90% the right answer.
Now, apply your will. Your will is powerful. More powerful than you realize. Its the strength of the real you. The you that’s in there. It’s energy and attention brewing up for you to make something happen. So now you get to use it. You get to choose.
Let the surge flow through. Feel it. Breath into it. SHIFT.
You may need to move your body to help let that energy go. You may need to get up, go for a walk, pace, change positions, tweak your own skin.
It can help to release the energy by expending some energy.
But now you know, and you can let it go.
You can escape the Saber. You can avoid ruining the day.
Then you can return to your regularly scheduled programming… already in progress. 😁
Try it out, and practice.
- Admit it — it was bound to happen.
- Feel it — it’s not me, its the system.
- Shift it — your choice, let it flow, release.
Then, Let GO and Let’s GO!
Jeff
Check out other Journal entries from Jeff here: https://www.getrevue.co/profile/theJournal
