Do You Know the 4 Components of Being Human?

There’s a science to being human…

Family legend says that my dad had a presence—you would know he walked into the room, because the air would just shift. People could feel his presence before they even saw him.

My mom compares it to the way people used to say, “Elvis is in the building.” My dad had that same kind of energy and magnetism. He walked into a room and consumed the entire space.

Everyone was drawn to him.

But he had a destructive side too. My dad rode a motorcycle and hung out with a lot of the bikers in town. They partied all the time, drank and used drugs. He often disappeared for days, and my mom didn’t know where he was or when he was coming back. My dad lived life full-throttle: Captivating, magnetic, wild—and totally out-of-control.

But here’s the thing: I have biker blood running through my veins, too. My father’s DNA is encoded into my own. It’s a fact of my existence that I cannot change. (Not that I would want to.)

By understanding the parts of myself that are innate, biological, and nature driven, I’m able to offer myself greater compassion while making decisions from a place of awareness and wisdom. Rather than fighting against my nature, I can work with it.

My dad never discovered the fullest expression of his truest, most authentic, most soulful self. He simply did not have the tools.

But that does not have to be my reality. And it doesn’t have to be yours, either.

There is a distinct science to being human; one we’re always learning more about. The components of being human—the things we cannot change about ourselves, no matter how hard we try—are key to understanding that science and the intricate majesty of how our brains develop and work, how we think and act, how we live our lives.

These four components are what make us all incredibly unique, but also precisely the same.

1. The Neurological Aspects of the Brain

   The brain and nervous system are intensely complex systems that inform practically every aspect of your being: And the limbic system is of particular importance when we are talking about mindfulness and its impact on thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

   As far as we know, humans are the only beings on Earth with brains that give us the ability to process information in the way that we do—our brains enable us to function at advanced levels of thought. At the same time, everyone’s brain operates differently, based on individual life experiences. You will certainly perceive certain stimuli differently than I will. Events will have a different emotional resonance for you than they will for me. We are all beautifully and neurologically wired very differently from one another.

2. Genetics

   In a way, genetics are precursors to the neurobiology of the brain. Your genetic makeup is central to who you are as a human being—and we each have genes that we absolutely cannot change. (That doesn’t mean we can use them as a blanket excuse for any dysfunction in our lives—but it can garner more self-love and compassion. That is another way mindfulness can be supportive.)

3. Experiential Conditioning (aka: Family of Origin)

   This encompasses your family of origin, the relationships you formed with those people and others, your caretakers, and any other peers or influences. Any conditioning you experienced growing up is unique to you—and we’ve all experienced some. We cannot change those experiences—they are paved directly into the brain—and, in many ways, they can shape us for a lifetime.

4. Social and Cultural Norms

   There are countless behaviors, beliefs, and expectations that you learned from the larger world around you. These are the things that society expects you to conform to, whether they are authentic to you or not. But nature or nurture, these things are central to who you are and inform why you do so much of what you do.

The good news is studies have shown practicing meditation can rewire the brain and form new neural pathways—helping to transform the beliefs and behaviors that were taught to you with ones that are natural to you. Still, there are some things that cannot be changed. Every experience weaves a thread, however small, in the fabric of your being.

While we can’t change these things, we can develop compassion for them—both in ourselves and others—and learn to work with them.

Through mindfulness, each of us can develop the acceptance we all need to live from a place of authenticity and wellbeing. If we begin to see ourselves and each other through the framework of these four components, we can start to approach the world from a place of understanding and love.

Isn’t that something we could all use a little more of in our lives?

These four components of being human are beyond our individual control, but that does not mean we can blame our decisions on our conditions. Each of these four components manifest in entirely unique ways within everyone, and what we each decide to do with them is unique to us as well.

What we do with our lives beyond these four components is totally up to us.

What happens next is up to YOU.

Learn what happens next, here.