Our species has survived because we are able to feel compassion and empathy allowing us to support and care for one another. This is our true nature and I believe are a number of things that interfere with our living in harmony with this nature. The first interference is that we have a brain that is wired to have a hair-trigger response to fear. Because our brains haven’t evolved to tell the difference between stress and danger our stress signals are hijacked and sent to the fight/flight/freeze part of the brain were all our childhood memories and traumas are stored. We are then triggered into irrational fear responses which diminish our capacity for compassionate responses.

It is our true nature to be empathic and compassionate… We even have parts of our brain called empathy neurons that allow us to connect deeply to each other’s experience …These neurons evolved because as a species our survival is enhanced if we can take care of each other…Because our brain has not been able to distinguish stress from danger, frequently when we are stressed we are triggered into fear responses that interfere with our innate capacity to be caring and loving.

Did you know that your brain is wired to have a hair-trigger response to fear because that is the only way our species could survive? You probably didn’t learn that the brain can’t always distinguish between stress and danger. As a result, very often your stress signals are hijacked and sent to the fear centers in your brain. When this happens, you don’t have access to your higher cognitive abilities. You basically have the brainpower of a young infant or child. You have probably blamed yourself or been blamed for childlike or ineffective responses and I’m here to tell weren’t deliberately trying to self sabotage or cause yourself pain in any way. You’re not responsible for the way your brain evolved.