Life is unpredictable and we never know what situation stands ahead of us. Humans try to seek a way to advance their future, whether it comes to their health, finding a career to become financially stable, or living in a safe sustainable environment. Most people set goals for themselves that they want to accomplish throughout their lives; however, they face many challenges which can motivate people to overcome them. It is within our human nature that we strive for survival during the most difficult times. We try to find solutions to all the problems we encounter.
Background History Survival is an essential way of living that can be traced back to when humans were first introduced on earth. People who have lived thousands of years prior to us, did not have the facilities that we have today. Instead of going to the supermarket and selecting groceries which is part of current lifestyle, they had to go through various strategic processes of agriculture and hunting. Earlier people spent hours on trying to search for animals and killing them in order to use it for food and other sources, such as clothing and heat.
They had to focus on environmental conditions, such as weather issues and different seasons, in order for better crop growth. People also had to design weapons and tools with limited supplies in order to make hunting and farming possible. Despite all these circumstances, people still fight to continue their lives. Even though in today’s society, most people do not have to hunt or grow their food, we still strive to survive in different ways. It is proven that in adverse situations humans strive to survive for different reasons such as critical health conditions, financial struggles, and harsh environmental issues.
Theory 1 There are certain people who have changed our way of lives in fighting for freedom, rights and a better form of life. Influential leaders in the past have shown us different ways to fight in a peaceful manner in order to strengthen our lives. Leaders such as Martin Luther King and Mahatma Ghandi can be considered as prime examples of figures who defined the meaning of striving to survive. The odds were against them and in many cases they weren’t successful for many years of their life. For example Martin luther King tried to spread his beliefs of civil rights and equality for many years with little acknowledgment.
The odds were strongly against him, and it would make sense for him to give up, but human nature made him persist to reach his goal and strive to do better. Martin Luther King said, “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. Every step towards the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals. ” Dr. King is trying to reassure his standpoint on struggling through situations in order to observe achievement.
It shows that a great leader understands the sense of victory because he went through many hardships and sacrifices that taught him the value of striving to success and live life. During Martin Luther King’s time, there were many issues regarding racial discriminatory factors that segregated people. However, after all the effort, time and sacrifices we are able to see an accomplishment today in equality and justice. Mahatma Gandhi was another influential icon who has motivated many people and taught them to fight to survive.
Gandhi had to face many challenges along with the people in his country when the Indians to create their own goods without attacking the British. This shows that humans rather strive to survive and create a better life compared to giving up and losing hope. Mahatma Ghandi said “Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well. ” Ghandi’s approach for surviving was comparable to other leaders however he had a slightly different insight. He tries to explain that we shape and create the world around us.
In order for us to understand what we are striving for, we need to realize the importance of clean thoughts and innovative ideas to improve our life. Theory 2 Our bodies can cope with survival and stress in unique ways. We have many instincts and reaction to danger and pain. Based on a psychological and physiological phenomenon known as the fight or flight response, we are able to better determine the reason behind our bodies and mind reacting to certain situations. Humans either fight against the dangers that comes towards them or they run away from it. Psychologist say that every person has the fight or flight response in them.
It is an automatic reaction to certain situations and threats. Whether it is fighting or flighting, people would strive to survive no matter what. In the article The Fight or Flight Response it says “Attack, they say, is the best form of defence. And yet sometimes tactical retreat is better; abandon the battle and win the war. Live to fight another way. ” This quote is showing that the fight and flight response is an essential key to survival. It says that fighting back is the best way of defence because fighting back can help you get out the situation you are in.
Also the quote says that sometimes falling back is also better because you are keeping yourself out of danger. Our human instincts are for us to survive. We have an instinct within us that tries its best to make us survive. Just like how we touch something really hot, we react really quickly without even thinking. This is because our survival instincts were made for us to avoid any types of pain. In the article Survival Instinct it says “The primary instincts that support survival directly are fight, flight, food, freeze, procreation, avoiding pain, activate pleasure, physiological needs and emotional (primary) behaviour.
This quote explains is how we react to situations and pain is cause of our survival instinct. Our instincts tells if we should fight or flight, when we are hungry and need food, and when we are feeling a lot of pain. Our instincts tries to make us avoid pain. Theory 3 A tremendous key of survival is cooperating together. Since we are an intelligent species, working together was a prime factor of survival. It made achieving our goals much easier. An example of this would be cavemen, our human ancestors. Cavemen alone realized they would die, so they started living in packs.
When living was crucial they all worked together no matter what the situation was. They built shelters and hunted for food. Living in packs made their lives better because when they all went hunting for food they would all bring back resources and have enough to live on for couple of days. In an article it said “the real difference between us and other animals is on the collective level. Humans control the world because we are the only animal that can cooperate flexibly in large numbers. ” This quote shows how good we are able to cooperate with each other.
Since we are the only species that can really work together it gives us more power and strength, and with more strength and power from working together it makes survival much easier, Teamwork is more effective for survival. When people strive to a goal by themselves, it’s harder for them to reach the goal they are trying . When people collaborate you have more people reaching for the same goal together which will make the goal easier to reach. An example of this is “The Donner Party was a group of settlers trekking to California in 1846. Trapped by snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, they survived as best they could.
This included resorting to cannibalism when they ran out of food, eating the bodies of those who had died. ” This quote explains how that since a group of people were trapped and they tried their best to survive but they didn’t have that much resources to survive. Even though some people died, they worked together to get out of the mountains. Counter Argument There are people who have different opinions and do not agree on the concept of striving to survive. Some might say that some humans aren’t just as psychologically strong and wants to take the shortcut out of life.
A quote said by many people who wanted to commit suicide was “ I rather die on my feet than live on my knees. ” This quote says that it’s easier and better just to die, than live while facing many problems and going through many struggles. But many others and I would argue against this claim. Many individuals don’t just want to die. They will face their problems until it’s done. They believe there is a purpose to life. After conducting personal research and speaking to other individuals come to realize that human being was sent to the earth for a purpose. Every individual has an effect on people around them.
In an article by Natasha Tracy she says “It is obvious that every human wants to live. No matter what their personal circumstances each human claws against death until they either don’t see it coming, or they feel there is no alternative for them. ” In this quote she says that no matter what the issue is we all want to live. So for the people who says to just take a shortcut out and get out of the misery are kind of giving the wrong advice to others because each individual has a role to play in this earth. They can face their problems, fix them and be more happy and successful later on after the struggles which motivated them.
By overcoming struggles it allows you to appreciate the opportunities around you. Sum Up Conclusion In Conclusion, encountering struggles may not be as bad as people seem to make it. At the end after you fight for your survival and find the solution to all of your problems and struggles you will have a positive outcome. At some points your struggles might tear you apart and you might consider it to be the end for you, but the people who strive for survival will have the positive outcome at the end. Those who usually strive through struggles encounter many accomplishments.
So What Conclusion People should care about this paper because this paper raises awareness for the people who go through the struggles and think about ending their life. Sometimes going through struggles aren’t a bad thing because at the end of all of it you might have a better conclusion and be happy. If it wasn’t for our previous ancestors who have made many sacrifices, we wouldn’t of realized the benefits we have today. This topic is very important because some people don’t realize the struggles others go through and we need to support those who encounter all these problems everyday.
