You wouldn’t typically sever your own arm in the wilderness. Only when your survival is at stake will you do the deed. The will to survive is strong, amen?
So, I hafta ask, “Is there anything you wouldn’t do to survive?”
Would you lie?
Would you steal?
Would you leave your possessions behind?
Would you compromise your “soft” values?
Would you throw someone under the train?
Would you turn on your friends?
Would you disown your family?
Would you assault someone?
Would you take a life?
Would you sell yourself (or someone you love) into slavery?
The will to survive is indeed strong. It’s pretty ugly at times, too. I pray that you never find yourself in the way of these types of decisions. But let not the distant danger of these decisions, hopefully deferred permanently, divert our attention from our daily dance with survival.
You and I might feel like we’re the lead partner but survival thinks differently.
When faced with a difficult decision point, do we do the hard work to be who we say we are? Do we do what we know to do? Or do we flinch in the moment and look for the quickest door that will lead us to the other side of this thing?
The will to survive pulls our strings more often than we think. Look closely, seek the evidence and you’ll find survival wins regularly.
Survival wins when you hold back that thought because saying it means more trouble even though it needs to be said. It wins when you say, “Oh, never mind.” Of course, there are several colorful ways “never mind” manifests. It wins every time you make a decision without being thoughtful about it. The urgency of the moment trumps the weight of the commitment. It feels better to give a response now (and get through the moment) rather than allow uncertainty to be your answer with a firm, committed response to follow later. Survival wins every time you say “yes” when you should have said “no.” Or vice versa.
I don’t see our existence as a race against extinction.
It’s not about surviving.
At least it shouldn’t be.
