Sunday - Day 56 - Survival

Once upon a time we all lived in caves.  Our only purpose in life was to protect ourselves from wild animals, find food and procreate. Not necessarily in that order.

These days we still protect ourselves, but we protect ourselves from hurt feelings. We look to outside sources to make ourselves feel good, through our preferred vice or social media. What is it that gets you through your day?  I have my own guilty pleasures, Starbucks, Sushi and mindless TV.

However, over the years, I have given up on things I once considered things I could not live without.  I discovered I could survive without the things I once enjoyed regularly.  I would not consider myself to have an addictive personality, but I can understand how easily someone can become attached or addicted to specific things and the feelings associate with those things.

As a society we eat bad food and drink alcohol beverages, we play computer games and follow sports, we take prescribed drugs and enjoy our caffeine beverages. We over indulged in many things because it feels good.

We buy expensive things to look good or make ourselves feel good. We give gifts and attend church, because it feels good and we like to see others smile due to our own good deeds. We own homes and take vacations, because it satisfies a need inside, a need to be happy, fulfilled or relaxed.

I wonder how we evolved to be the humans we are today, with no knowledge of what it feels like to have access to less, own less, without instant gratification.  Microwave ovens and drive through windows give us instant food. On demand Movies, TiVo, Netflix and Hulu give us instant entertainment (with no interruptions), our cell phones and text messaging give us instant communication.

Our children do not know what it's like to wait for anything for more than five minutes.  My teenage children get instant affirmations with how many likes they get on Facebook and Instagram in one minute.

I have thought all these things through and wonder what society would do if it all just went away one day. Would we adapt and survive? Or would we wither away like the dinosaurs?

We all need a few dinosaurs to chill with!

 I was inspired for this blog attending a three year old birthday/pool party yesterday, the theme was Dinosaurs. We enjoyed good food, fine drinks and great company.  All the kids splashed in the pool, we ate dinosaur cake and the little kids found candy hitting a dinosaur piñata.

What's more fun than a dinosaur piñata?

The expression is Priceless on a Cake

We are far from our dinosaur ancestors and the cave people who followed, but our instincts for survival have not disappeared. How long would we survive with less and how much less could we survive with?