Instincts - the beast within us

“Good instincts usually tell you what to do long before your head has figured it out.” -- Michael Burke

It amazes me that even while 90 percent of the lake is still covered in ice, the loons know when to come home. Instincts are amazing.

I heard the loons last Saturday. Actually, Charlie said he heard them a few days earlier, but I didn't hear them myself until then. On my way to work driving around the north side of the lake yesterday I saw two of them. The were peacefully floating along in the 15 to 20 feet of open water along the shoreline and diving under the ice.

It is a sure sign of spring, even when we are expecting 3 to 6 inches of snow tonight, I know it will not be long until the lake is completely free from ice.

Animal instincts lead the loons to water and tell them when to fly to the sun in the fall. Instincts tell the robins where to dig for worms. Instincts tell the bears when to wake up and when to crawl into a soft bed for the winter. Instincts tell a lone wolf how to find a pack or when to move on.

People have instincts, too. Like a voice within us, our instincts give us that gut feeling when something just feels so right that it can't possibly be wrong. Our inner voice tells us when it is time to move on, or when to dig deeper. If something just doesn't feel right, a trigger goes off, telling us so.

The difference between animal instincts and human instincts are that we humans have a few things that set us apart from the animals. Besides opposable thumbs, we can feel. We can think. We can rationalize. We can dream. We can love.

Our instincts can also become clouded by those very things that set us apart from the wild and free animal kingdom. The noise from everyday life can become so loud that we cannot hear that tiny voice within. Sometimes we feel trapped like a caged animal, or boxed into a corner with no way out except the way we came in.

But the clouds can blow away. We can shut out the distracting noises. We can free ourselves from the trap we set for ourselves.

It all goes back to the basics. We need to know when to listen to the voice and we need to trust our instincts.

“As the traveler who has lost his way, throws his reins on his horse's neck, and trusts to the instinct of the animal to find his road, so must we do with the divine animal who carries us through this world.” -- Ralph Waldo Emerson


Peace.