Sometimes You Gotta Be A Bear

If you are a Chicago Bears fan, I'm going to need you to go ahead and lower that excitement just like the rest of the season. This has nothing to do with slacking on the offensive line. (cough cough)

Humans are social creatures. We depend on each other for entertainment, relationships, and protection. One of our greatest strengths, if done correctly, is to cultivate community. With community we fulfill some of are most simplest necessities like trade for food, to the most complex like building multi-million dollar businesses and navigating relationships. 

One of my favorite comparisons to this picture of basic survival within community, in the animal kingdom is the bear. There is no separation from the black bears, grizzly bears, polar, and even pandas. I often picture the polar bear family all cuddled up on some arctic berg, looking like #familygoals, stuck in my head. Another example, mama Black Bear making sure her cubs are heavily protected. Think about all of the mamma pandas feeding their young. Bears are one of the few animals that always have some kind of majestic look even when they have their mouths wide open in defense.

One thing I didn't know about bears was their need for independence. Fun Fact: Bears are known to be the most solitary animals in the world. Here’s a nerdy example to prove. I mean it changed my view of them completely. I went through a tough phase of my life (like we all do) where I had to really evaluate the company that I regularly kept. For months I was struggling with having to distance myself from THE CLOSEST people in my life, a.k.a. the people who I looked to for everything. I had become close to these people in attempting to create the ideal community that we are taught is good for us, helps us grow, helps us develop and become healthy. I noticed after a while I was so deep in these relationships and all of the opposite things were happening. So I had to become like a bear, or else I'd find myself somewhere weak and alone in the wild.

I learned that bears are some of the most independent animals. Aside from the highlight reels we see on tv of bears mating and taking care of their cubs, bears live independent lives. Bears, just like people, catch random flights around the country, sleep in one bedroom apartments, and go out to eat alone. Don't mistake bears for being shy, they are more than willing to engage if need be, but rather climb a tree hike and chill. I see bears as the explorer, they may live in solitude but because there is no limit on where the mind can go, there are  no conflicting views in their group, and they find ways to see more of what the world has to offer from a 30ft view 😉.

Most of the time people worry when we show traits of most bears. They appreciate the highlight reel on Instagram of us posting meals with friends and the many social events...but what about you. I mean like what about learning more about yourself before we find out what others priorities are. What if we focused so much on getting to know others more that we put ourselves in a place to never really know who we are but only how to exist with others?

I'll be honest, I had a really bad habit of this and one of my goals now is to "put my oxygen mask on first". Most of us don't have time to pay attention but on every flight you get on the flight attendants give you a lesson to literally save your life and it's not exclusively meant for if that plane decides it wants to land early.

Sometimes you may not find people to run with you, it's okay to run by yourself until you find your crew. Everybody who wants to get better always wants to find someone above em, it only does one thing for the person at the top, don't be everybody
​- Leonard Mathews