Survival of the Fittest

Posted on by Ipuna Black

How much can you endure before you crack? Survival of the fittest goes back to the scientist, Charles Darwin. His theory of evolution by natural selection indicates that species which can adapt to their environment are more likely to survive over species which can’t. There are limited resources available in an environment, which promotes competition amongst organisms of the same or different species, creating a struggle to survive.

survival-of-fittest-dead-trees-Ipuna-Black

I thought about this survival of the fittest concept when I was in the mountains last weekend. As I was driving up a mountain, I came across a stretch of land that had been destroyed by a fire. What intrigued me about the scenery was that there were vast areas of burned trees, but amongst the trees were bright green, tall, and bold trees full of life. These trees must’ve laughed at the fire and said, “You ain’t gettin’ me!” How did these trees survive when all the rest around them died? Survival of the fittest. It had to be. When a fire threatens to bring you down, how much can you take before you crack, ignite, and light up in flames until there is nothing left of you?

Katniss Everdeen- Hunger Games

I couldn’t help but think of the book, Hunger Games, as I thought about survival of the fittest. Isn’t that what the Hunger Games were about? Fight to the death, and the fittest will survive. I’m not talking about just physical fitness. One needs more tools than that to endure during tough times.

survival-of-fittest-fallen-trees-Ipuna-Black

Tools the Fittest Possess

  • Grit. The deadly combination of persistence and passion. Can you stand tall despite the fire all around you?
  • Mental strength. Are you taking the time to slow down? (I’m terrible about this.) Meditating or relaxing the mind? Feeding your mind positive information to help you with answers during tough times? Can you push past the negative energy as the fire gets closer?
  • Physical strength. Physical strength helps you to react quicker, feel better, and have a decreased risk of other health complications. If I fire is coming your way, can you escape it, or can you physically bear through it?
  • Wit. When the Gamemakers in Hunger Games threw more at Katniss, she had the wits to fight back. Can you catch danger coming at you and come up with a plan before it destroys you?
  • Adaptable. Life is never going to go just like we planned it. How will you react to the changes? I promise you that fire/adversity will come your way. Can you use your wit to see the positive in the situation or make a change for the better, even under the worse circumstance? Hard to do.

Let me know your thoughts on survival of the fittest. Kudos to those trees that were able to survive the horrible fire. I hope to stand tall when adversity/fire comes my way. I have in the past. It’s not easy, but it’s possible. It takes constant work on my tools.

survival-of-fittest-trees-Ipuna-Black

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and a fantastic week ahead! Happy Monday! Stay cool. It’s hot in Vegas!

I may be slow responding back to comments. I’m taking Jy to Primary Children’s Hospital for a neuro-psych eval. That should be interesting.

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58 thoughts on “Survival of the Fittest”

        1. It went well! I’ll post a little more about it on Tuesday. I didn’t post about his deficits, but overall, he is doing pretty good. He still could improve on his emotions, organization, executive functioning, reading, and writing, but he is getting better. At least I know more specific areas and things we can work on. He’s a fighter. He will get there! ❤️​

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  3. Great post Ipuna,

    natural selections, right. Just like in life. We all have a great power by nature,but very few percent of people really use it. То survive a fire, we need to rise above it.We need to be more energy and less matter 🙂

    Thank you

    Liked by 1 person

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  4. The post is awesome 🙂 I especially love the meantal strength positive attitude 🙂 if you believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel then it can help you become stronger and persevere just that much more to overcome any obstacle.

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  5. “Survival of the fittest” is everywhere as you mentioned. It spans from nature to professional life. 🙂 The fittest will get promoted. The fittest will survive during layoffs in a company. One may argue that people in the good-book survive layoffs but we are talking about “the fittest” here not “the best”. The best may not survive but the one that survived is definitely the fittest one. 🙂 I am just mumbling. Great post. Very thought provoking.

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    1. It is a thought provoking topic for sure. I love how you pointed out “the fittest” and not “the best.” That is thought provoking! I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I’m just catching up. I was out of town. I’ll post about it next week.

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  6. I recently took an environmental science class at the local college. I didn’t realize it would be so intriguing. We discussed “survival of the fittest ” i think of this concept often. One day were driving to another city & I saw a bunch of trees with no leaves. My mind started to wonder, “what happened here.?” I took out my phone and searched google for possible answers to my dilemma. In a nutshell, some type of disease had plagued the trees; therefore, the roots of the trees that were connected to the infected trees caused a lot of treex to die. However, some trees were still thriving. A good example of survival. Only the strong survive despite whats overtaking the roots in the ground.

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    1. YES! I love it. What a great example! We need that kind of strength to endure our trials. I love it. Sorry for my late response. I was traveling for a doctor’s appointment for Jy. Have a wonderful Sunday tomorrow!

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  7. Apropos, ain’t it! And we all must walk that walk at one time or another. The tips say it all. We have to stand firm and tall both mentally and physically. And when we do stumbled as we all do, we have to right ourselves and keep going. Not sure there’s limited resources, though, only for those who don’t dig deep or look hard enough.
    E

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  8. Man I love this and it so true! Life will not always go exactly the way we want it to go and those who can adapt to bad situations, finding the good in them, are those who will survive this thing called life! You know me though, as much as I love God, I’m always going to bring it all back to Him! Those who are deeply rooted in Him are able to stand in tryng times knowing that ALL things work together for their good (Romans 8:28). The good, bad, and the ugly all work out for our good. So when the fire of life comes we know tht even if we do get burned a little, it will not utterly destoy-we will survive and remain standing!

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  9. Hi Ipuna,
    Not learning how to adapt to our environment is a problem for many.
    I like the list you have here.
    We need them all because most of our problem comes from our distorted perception of our environment.
    We think everything suppose to be to our liking.
    But like you said, life is never going to go as planned so we must adapt by being more flexible and accepting more than we try to change.
    The bright green tall trees were just fine living with the burned ones.
    We have to do the same and stop judging others who are different.
    Just because someone is different doesn’t mean we can’t live in harmony with them.
    Great post!

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    1. I love this: “The bright green tall trees were just fine living with the burned ones.
      We have to do the same and stop judging others who are different.” Soooooo true. Thank you for your amazing comment. I love the harmony you give through your words.

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  13. I love how a burned-out forest and a few healthy trees can trigger such feelings and thoughts inside you, Ipuna.

    I believe we have all been given the right tools to deal with whatever finds us in our lives. Then again, I have proven myself to be a bouncy ball, so what do I know? Life has hit me pretty hard a few times and I always bounced back, maybe it’s different for others.

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  16. Great post! I love the theory of natural selection. I think it is likely that these trees have undergone some sort of genetic mutation that is favorable to surviving in a fire! Their offspring will also likely inherit this trait and maybe more tress will also be able to survive. Very cool. I think this, perhaps, applies more to nature then to humans these days. We are lucky enough to have people that can support and helps others in their time of need. Maybe this willingness to help others is also a trait though, one that will hopefully spread to everyone!

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  19. Loved this! Of course, the fittest will always survive and we can think of many examples of this. Also, it’s about placing and finding the right spot for that survival….My example I planted 6 trees in different parts of my garden..same tree all growing at different rates.and two not at all…There are varying degrees of light and shade in my garden which causes this but isn’t life like that…Our circumstances? I am pleased your hospital visit was positive 🙂

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  22. Pingback: Exciting News! I Got into Pitch Wars! (What’s that? Let me tell you!) – Ipuna Black

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