The Power of Basics™
You will note that this website and The Helping Conversation itself deal with “basics.” There is a problem with basics. Even (or perhaps especially) when they are important, they tend to be ignored.
When I describe the problem solving and opportunity development process outlined later in this website and in my counseling book The Skilled Helper, many people look at it cursorily and say, often dismissively, “Yeah, I know that.” In a way they do know, but:
They don’t realize how important it is in life.
They don’t understand its power.
They seldom use it implicitly.
They never use it explicitly and fully.
It doesn’t guide their decision making.
The basic skills of effective living, such as communication, relationship building, problem solving, decision making, and the skills of healthy living, are not an explicit or even implicit part of our education system. It is tacitly assumed that kids will pick them up “along the way.” This assumption comes with a very big price—citizens working at half speed in a very fast world. This cost goes unnoticed.
Consider happiness. Everyone wants to be happy, but what are the basic causes of happiness? The longest study of happiness and its causes is the Harvard Study of Adult Development which has been going on for 75 years (and is continuing as we speak). The main cause of both health and happiness? Good relationships. A basic. You would think that societies would help kids (and adults) acquire the working knowledge and skills needed to develop and maintain good relationships. But that is not the case.
Or consider the skills of healthy living. We know the basics—nutrition (eating well), exercise (keep moving), sleeping well (getting enough but not too much), avoiding toxins (tobacco, drugs), and avoiding physically and psychologically debilitating feelings and emotions such as anger, anxiety, and depression which can, literally, sicken us. Kids are not taught these skills. But even when we know what we have to do, we fail to develop healthy habits.
The physical, psychological, and monetary costs to society go unnoticed. In the United States the cost of health care is always a hot topic. However, recent studies have shown that, if Americans generally were to adopt the healthy lifestyle just noted, health-care costs would be reduced by over 30 percent. We seem to love our unhealthy ways but remain oblivious to how much they cost.
So, basics, however important, tend to be ignored. That is why the power of basics is an important theme in every topic discussed in The Helping Conversation.