“Common sense is not so common.” –Voltaire

Can you define common sense?

I know, it’s hard. What if the root of all your problems comes down to not understanding what common sense is?

Merriam-Webster defines it as “sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.”

Sounds simple, doesn’t? But simple isn’t necessarily easy.

It’s not knowledge. That the Magna Carta was signed in 1215 is not common sense. You either learned it or you didn’t. You probably weren’t there.

It’s not skill. You can’t practice common sense like you can riding a bicycle.

How do you learn common sense? It’s a question we don’t consider, probably because most people think they already have it. But, even if you think you do, you manage or parent people who don’t. How do you teach what you can barely define, and don’t know how you received yourself?

The clue in the definition is the phrase, “simple perception.” Sounds easy, right? Perceiving reality as it is, without making anything up–no assumptions, projections, false inferences, etc.

This is why everyone thinks they have common sense, because they think they’re perceiving reality exactly as it is, which is to say they think they have the same consciousness of Jesus, the Buddha, Krishna, Einstein, or whatever enlightened, God-like, wicked-smart being they respect the most. (I’m from MA, I can say “wicked”)

But, if you’re not one of these people, you have blind spots. You already know this.

So, why the #$%& aren’t you looking for them?

Let me save you the trouble: it’s because you prefer your self-image of who you are over the discomfort of seeing what’s actually true, and so you distort your entire reality to match like a circus mirror.

You certainly have this choice, but if you don’t proactively look for your blind spots, life shows you anyway, because it actually gives a shit about you waking up, even if you don’t. And since you’re part of life, you’re going along for the ride whether you like it or not, like a dog going to the vet. This is why bad things happen to good people. It’s to wake them up!

Truth comes out like a splinter… If you don’t go after it, your body will do it for you. Ignore it enough and it may lead to infection to get your attention. It’s going to come to the surface, no matter what. Truth will out.

You can do it the hard way or the harder way, it’s up to you.

Common sense, as you already know, is anything but common. Contrary to popular belief, it can be learned. But in one way, there’s nothing you can do to learn it. It comes from a result of undoing. What does that look like?

Tune in next week for part two.