“Belief consists in accepting the affirmations of the soul; unbelief, in denying them.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you took advantage of the hardwire I included in The Phantom of Wisdom, then today’s episode is going to raise your antenna.

I didn’t intend to continue today’s discussion referring to King Solomon; however, after brainstorming over today’s topic, I realized that it wouldn’t be wise for me to ignore yet another lesson that we could learn from the ancient king.

I suppose only half the credit for today’s episode will be attributed to King Solomon while the other half of the lesson will be one that we will derive from his son Rehoboam. Granted, I understand King Solomon had his own issues as he distanced himself from God over the course of his life, but despite this fact, he did seek the wisdom of the Lord at the start of his kingdom.

Even though this was the case concerning Solomon, I understand that there has been ongoing debate over whether Solomon sought repentance. However, according to 2 Samuel 7:14-15 it appears that Solomon rests with the Lord.

Granted, I’m not here to debate that specific issue; but regardless of where you stand with King Solomon, the lesson that I wanted to point out here is the clear dichotomy that existed between King Solomon and his son, King Rehoboam, at the time that he took over the crown.

I want you to place this on a shelf for a moment as I’m going to shift gears and fast forward through time to a more modern place in recent history to illustrate an important point for today’s episode.

“A man’s got to know his limitations.”

–Clint Eastwood, Inspector Harry Callahan: Magnum Force

That famous quote by the legendary Clint Eastwood in the iconic action movie, Magnum Force, has been a line that has truly withstood the test of time.

Aside from just being a cool soundbite, there’s a real definitive lesson surrounding the context of this quote from the movie Magnum Force. Granted, when looking at today’s world, the lesson that we can derive from this movie is one that much of the world is currently missing.

To frame the context of this quote, earlier in the movie, there is some obvious tension between Lt. Briggs and Harry Callahan when they are working a crime scene involving a homicide. Briggs is Harry’s superior and he has clear disdain for Harry, and is quick to assert some harsh judgments regarding some of Harry’s past work. With a demonstration of one who feels the need to act like a moral superior, it was at this point when Briggs felt the need to remind Harry that he had never had to take his gun out of its holster during his entire career. This was when Harry responded by saying, “Well, you’re a good man, lieutenant. A good man always knows his limitations.” This was a clear dig at Lt. Briggs from Harry, where Harry was implying Briggs was a coward.

However, this moment in the film was foreshadowing something more significant that would happen later on in the story between the two men.

Now, I certainly don’t want to ruin the ending of this iconic film for you if you haven’t had an opportunity to see it, but this lesson is vital for today’s message. By the end of the movie, it quickly becomes clear what was being foreshadowed between the two men when we find out that Lt. Briggs tries to frame Harry for the vigilante killings involving other corrupt police officers.

After the true nature of the corrupt officers is revealed, Briggs forces a showdown as he has his gun drawn and is pointing it at Callahan. Briggs, being corrupt, while also being a by-the-book bureaucrat, even calls Harry a “maniac” and aims to attempt to prosecute him.

However, as Briggs is driving away from Harry, he is killed by his own car bomb after threatening Harry. It was at this point when Harry smiles and says, “A man’s got to know his limitations.”

The lesson that we can derive from this here is that Briggs was obviously too arrogant and hypocritical to know his own limitations. Due to his desire and emphasis towards a self-serving nature, Briggs became blind to his own limits. In fact, he became so blind to them that it resulted in his own death.

Blind Spot

Aside from being a writer and podcaster, I’m also a professional strength and fitness coach. Given my background, I’ve previously covered the reality of a sixth sense that you possess that is known as proprioception.

I don’t know if you’re familiar with this sixth sense, but it’s an incredibly interesting and powerful trait that exists within your body. The amazing thing about it is that most people are completely unaware of this, even though it’s something they should intuitively understand.

You see, within your muscles, joints, and tendons you have proprioceptors which are sensory receptors that signal external feedback to you from your environment. This function works so that you understand the location of your body in relation to other people and other things in space.

This is a key sense to have so that you don’t accidentally run into things and people when moving in space on a day to day basis. Now, this may seem obvious, but many people’s sense of proprioception has been dulled in our society since the advent of technology, along with the modern era of cellphones, the laptop, and desktop careers that now make up a large part of our modern day way of living.

Basically, your sixth sense of proprioception is your key sense of awareness. Now having said that, when it comes to the reality of our modern day society, this sense of awareness isn’t so sharp concerning a large portion of people that you might encounter on a day to day basis.

So what exactly do I mean?

Let me begin by asking: How many times have you found yourself in a crowded public place, while trying to navigate through the crowd, only to suddenly have to move out of the way of others who are completely blind to your presence?

I don’t know about you, but this happens to me all the time whenever I find myself in these situations.

The key question here is: How is it that I’m aware of those people who are blindly violating my space, yet there is complete unawareness on the part of those who are guilty of violating my space?

The answer to this is due to a lack of proprioceptive awareness. In other words, every able-bodied individual possesses the sixth sense of proprioception; however, if this sense isn’t stimulated, it becomes dull and perhaps almost nonexistent. It’s the dulling of this sixth sense that I want to touch on here.

The reality is that there are people who possess a low level of proprioceptive awareness and there are people who possess a high level of proprioceptive awareness. I’ve already given you an example of a low level function of proprioceptive awareness with the space invaders I mentioned earlier in my previous experience of trying to navigate my way through crowded public venues.

However, I will give you a couple of examples here to clarify what I mean in regards to those who possess a high level of proprioceptive awareness.

For example, if you’ve ever carefully watched a defensive back in a football game cover a wide receiver, then you’ve seen a guy that can back-pedal and maneuver his body across the field of play while not even having to necessarily look at where he’s going.

In this example, the defensive back can maneuver his body across the field of play without bumping into anyone while simultaneously covering a wide receiver. Here, the defensive back knows exactly where his body is in space in relation to referees and other players on the field. In other words, the defensive back is aware of his environment. In short, the defensive back possesses a heightened level of proprioceptive awareness.

If that example isn’t good enough for you then consider the following example. I guarantee you, if you’ve ever been around any military personnel that came back from a war zone and observed them in a crowded space, you would see an individual who has a level of proprioceptive awareness that’s even greater than that of the football defensive back. Their sixth sense is fully honed and engaged.

Your sixth sense of proprioceptive awareness is an extremely powerful human trait. Just how powerful is it?

Well, if you still don’t believe me about your sixth sense, then the next time you go out to a restaurant or coffee shop, try the following experiment; but please don’t get busted on exhibiting too much of the “creeper vibe” and end up blaming this one on me.

The next time you sit down at a local coffee shop or cafe, simply pick someone else out in the room—especially if they are turned away from you— and lock your eyes onto them, to stare at them without turning away.

I guarantee you that if you do this long enough, eventually, the person that you’re staring at will turn and look in your direction. People know if they are being watched or followed, and depending on the level of their proprioceptive awareness, they will come to that conclusion faster or slower in this situation.

In short, a person with a high level of awareness will turn and look in your direction a lot sooner than a person with a lower level of awareness.

This is not make-believe.

This is as real as the turning of the earth.

Now, this leads me into my next point concerning the current epidemic of the lack of self-awareness that exists throughout ou...