“Last week while sitting comfortably on my office chair, I realized that I wasn’t the only one deriving satisfaction from sitting- the chair also derived satisfaction from me.” It dawned on me that without someone to sit on the chair, it is just a useless metal and foam; we were both dependent on each other to achieve purpose.

Survival- is the sensation, passion, feeling, will, drive and desire to stay alive (to live, to fulfill purpose and to move on). Survival is a will and desire that drives you on at the face of death or danger. It does not stop at physical life alone but spreads to our mental, spiritual, emotional, moral, academics and career fields.

A documentary movie (Life of PI) I watched few months ago, taught me how survival is possible in difficult times and situations. The documentary showed 2 dominating animals (Man and Tiger); coexisting in an unlikely place, space and time. Despite the temptation and attempt to kill each other in order to survive, they eventually realized they needed each other to survive (Threat and Will)

3 Attributes of Survival

·         There is a threat of danger or death

·         There is a will or drive to live on no matter what in order to fulfill a purpose dream/life.

·         There is a force (person/reason) behind either the threat of death or the will to live.

Sometimes we need the awareness of danger for our body system to stay alert in preparation for quick response, maneuver or reaction to danger.

We need relationships that can help keep the fire and desire for survival burning in us. These relationships could be the one that provides the threat or the one that provides the will. Truth be told, we never grow in our comfort zone; like a saying goes “raw diamonds are found underneath a hill of coal”

To some, these relationship can come as their husband, wife, children, friends, families, colleagues, rivals, competitors, peers, teachers, mentors, pastors, leaders, boss, siblings, or even enemies etc,. Despite God being our most reliable and important factor for survival, we need people also to help us as well as we need to help others survive as well.

Note:

–          Parents can’t be parents without children (vice versa)

–          Bosses can’t be boss without having employees (vice versa)

–          Teachers can’t teach without having students (vice versa)

–          Predators can’t survive without having preys

–          Death can’t be a threat where there is no life… where there is life, there is hope.

JUST LIKE THE CHAIR NEEDED ME AS MUCH AS I NEED IT TO FULFILL PURPOSE “WE ALL NEED EACH OTHER”

 

By Philip Ekundayo

Admin to Keeping Marriage Alive Initiative