Common sense isn’t so common.
There is no universal experience after all. Every human being who has ever lived and will ever live will experience the world differently.
So how can there be common sense?
What is common to one is radical to another.
In myself and others I notice gaps between perception and reality when it comes to simple everyday type things. Not the big stuff. Not the metaphorical stuff. Not the complex stuff.
We all have mental disconnects. We forget. Our judgement lapses. We miscalculate.We overextend. We underestimate.
Mental disconnects, I know I’ve had plenty. Just yesterday I thought I was really firing on all cylinders. It wasn’t until midway through today that I realized I forgot to do two of the most important tasks I had planned for the day before.
I didn’t think about them at all. I had them noted. I knew I had to do them. Yet the thought to do two separate, planned tasks, escaped me for a day and a half. Yikes.
Mental disconnects. That’s the term I’m using for them.
Trying to minimize them comes more and more into focus as the years go on for me. I guess it can fall into the same category as trying to minimize mistakes.
I suppose one could put mental disconnects in the same category as self sabotage. Another interesting concept many people try not to think about. I know I’ve dealt with self sabotage, and not just in the distant past either.
Those seemingly innocuous concepts that also double as dirty words because of what they imply about humans and the human condition. Those things fascinate me. Because we are not perfect. I know I’m not.
Mental disconnects cause trouble and setbacks and problems. Not individually big, but they can compound. Trying to minimize mental disconnects is the work of a lifetime. A way to give meaning to the seemingly meaningless.
Is it a simple error in judgement? Or is it a mental disconnect that implies self sabotage? The quest for self improvement and personal development isn’t a quick, easy or simple one. If it was, the world would be an unrecognizable utopia of billions of people being the best version of themselves.
I know when I figure out a mental disconnect that has caused me trouble I feel accomplished. I feel I’ve done something worth while. Like fixing a leak or changing out a flat tire.
I feel that if I can figure out some of the smaller ones, eventually I’ll get to the bigger ones. You know, the life changing type things. Life is a serious of small steps and little things strung together and compounded over time. If I figure out the little things that go wrong, maybe that will lead to large scale solutions.
Maybe, possibly, but a worthwhile endeavor.
There’s work to be done, miles to go, but worth the trip.
