The Evolution Revolution: Taking (Your) Evolution For Granted

“All evolution in thought and conduct must at first appear as heresy and misconduct.” - George Bernard Shaw

For many people in this world, the word evolution has a very negative connotation. For me, it’s a very beautiful thing. For me, it’s not about apes and the big bang, but rather it’s one of the things that make life interesting. It’s a process that all of us are continuously undergoing throughout life, whether we choose to to accept it or not.

One indisputable fact about the evolution of humans is that some people are more highly evolved than others. It’s not that some of these people are “better” than the others. It’s only that the more highly-evolved individuals know something that the others don’t, or have experienced something they have yet to. One of the problems with this discrepancy comes when the advanced individual (either consciously or subconsciously) begins rubbing his or her evolutionary edge in the face of the evolutionary challenged. A great deal of this gap has to do with age, but there is a reason why many people of the same age can have very diverse personalities and values, as well as very different maturity and comfort levels. It has much to do with how personally evolved they are.

Personal evolution has to do with how your life evolves from the moment you are born to the moment you die. Our minds are exposed to many ideas and we are presented with many life choices that affect who we are and what we will become. Although evolution will gradually happen on its on, the way we choose to deal with these ideas and life junctures can go a long way in deciding how our evolutionary process progresses.

Having said all this, I consider myself a highly-evolved individual, especially when it comes to mental capacity, sexuality, and social adaptation. What I’ve found is that a large evolutionary gap can make for a very awkward evening if one’s inhibitions are compromised, mainly because our subconscious has a knack for resorting back to the familiar. While my subconscious (id?) believes it perfectly normal to (hypothetically) make-out with an attractive guy that I have a connection with, what my subconscious is not taking into consideration is how evolved my prey is in this arena.

I'll be more specific: Throw my highly-evolved nature, mixed with one (or five) too many vodka shots, at someone who still has one foot still firmly planted in the closet, and more than one person will most likely walk away confused, disturbed and utterly disgusted with themselves. In a situation like this, it’s hard for me not to become frustrated with the ignorance, discomfort, or awkwardness of others, whether it’s due to their age, background or overall unfamiliarity with the situation.

I believe it to be very unfortunate that the evolutionary process of many individuals is stunted by their less-than-progressive upbringing. Many times someone’s geographical location, as well as their cultural and religious background will cause to confuse their evolution even further.

The important thing to remember is that it (coexisting in society) has little to do with how wide the gap is between you and another person’s evolutionary status. Rather, it has everything to do with respecting other people and their evolutionary process. Although at times I want nothing other than someone else’s evo-status to align with mine, there are no shortcuts in evolution. Further, we must accept the fact that we all evolve in different ways and some people will never reach what some refer to as "maturity". No matter how you look at it, I don't think it wise to think poorly of those who are behind us in the process (or on a different course).

What we can look down on, however, are those who do nothing to enhance their process. I believe it is possible for us to take control of our personal evolution to determine what we will become. It is important that we value our freedom and take responsibility for who we are and what we do. We can be our own creators in that we can take our circumstances and do the best we can with what we have to work with. If we don't like what we are, we can choose to begin the process of evolving into what we want to be.

Let’s face it. There will always be someone more (and less) evolved than you (and I). We should not worry about evolving past someone or vice versa, but rather we should worry about ceasing to evolve at all. Familiarity can be both a symptom of a lack of evolution and a hindrance in our relations with others.

My hope for the future is that I can respect the evolutionary process of others while doing my best to evolve in style.

I’ll end on a challenging note, by quoting some guy by the name of Anthony J. D'Angelo:

“Promise yourself to live your life as a revolution and not just a process of evolution.”

I'm gonna work on that!