Survival of the Fittest or Die!! Really.....

Charles Poliquin commented on his Facebook fan page and I quote:

"Just finished giving lectures for Fitness First. I like their business model for personal trainers, they encourage a survival of the fittest system, instead of a corporate down the line moronic approach that many of their competitors use."

I have no idea what "corporate moronic approach" he is referring too & I'm not interested!! My issue is with the Survival of the Fittest Model!!

I once believed with all CONVICTION in this model for life, sports, work.... and it has served me well in many instances in life/sport, I can assure you!! Now as a parent, husband, son and any other labels I attach to myself I NO longer adhere to this model, but before I share with you WHY I don't belong to this model I want to share with you HOW I got this "survival of the fittest" mentality to start with. By understanding how I learnt this thinking will help you understand "why" I currently think the model NOW sucks ass & I will do all I can in my being to promote/teach a more mature version of "Survival of the Fittest"!!!

Where it all Began!!!
At a young age I taught myself "how to survive" not because it was imposed upon me from people (although some of it may have), but the big reason was due to my fathers death at age 12!!

When something traumatic happens to you at a vulnerable age (more so as a teenager trying to sort out "stuff" while hormones are playing havoc on ya!) your perception on the world changes...... I mean how are you meant to make sense of your father dying at age 12 let alone as a adult?!!

So as a result of my fathers death & trying to make sense of it through the eyes of a 12yr old, you make representations of "stuff" that can be "right" or "wrong" or just plain DISTORTED! My way of making sense of my fathers death was 2 fold;

1) I took on the "I must be the man of the house now" mentality... After a 2yr period (14yrs old) this really shaped my belief systems about the world & stuff in the world....2 yrs prior I was "playing up"!

2) From the above, I took on a belief of "if I'm to survive emotionally from my fathers death, it must be Survival of the Fittest"!! Harden up Mother F#$%^# & be a "man"....... Show no "pain" because you need to be "tough" on all levels physically, mentally, spiritually & emotionally!! BRING IT ON as I remember my 13+ inner voice would say to me on many many occasions!!

So that's "my story" of how I adopted the Survival of the Fittest belief system in my life & MAKE NO MISTAKE it has served me well AT TIMES, but and here is the biggest BUT!!

What can serve you so well can also make you WEAK!!!

Some of you may think where is the problem with this thinking if it served me so well, I mean it was my "saving grace" after all!!

The flip side to Charles preferred model of Survival of the Fittest, is that we are creating a bigger gap between people of "rich" vs "poor" or "strong" vs "weak" in the world!!

Some people (as I did) once justified this thinking with, "I choose to get off my ass and make something of myself & they don't, so F#$% them, they are "weak" and I CHOOSE to be strong!!!"

Fair argument, however do you see that this thought process extends a gap between humanity that is already getting wider and wider each year of rich vs poor or strong vs weak?!?

There's no room for COMPASSION in this thinking & this is WHAT we need more of in this world that is getting wider & divided by the day!!

At What Cost do You Stop Before You Are the Strongest?

This question is a personal thing that I would ask at times, but more often then not answered in a self serving way to "protect" me which really meant to protect my lack of emotionally stability!!

Here's my Model for a MORE MATURED Approach to Charles Poliquin's Survival of the Fittest!!!

A More Matured Approach to Survival of the Fittest:

1. Understand the Difference between Immature Ego & Mature Ego we all have both!
   E.g. Immature Ego says "win at all costs without any respect to me or YOU!!"...
   Mature Ego asks "what is the cost of me winning & am I prepared to risk it?"
   
   
2. Ask yourself, where does this belief come from?
   I'll admit this is a hard one to achieve because most of us, don't know we are "this way" because it's coming from the unconscious mind!! However, simply questioning yourself is a great place to start!
   
   
3. Understand that most men come from a Immature Ego but tell us, they are here to "serve us"....
   E.g. Poliquin tells us from the statement above that he has a belief system of "win at all costs", some people may not have a issue with this, fair enough! BUT how content are you if your child, mother, sister are on the receiving end of the Strongest i.e. Weakest, would you be so "cool" with that?
   Would you "sell" them out to be the Strongest?

I'm sure there are many other ways to explore the more matured way of Survival of the Fittest & it doesn't start with big issues, check the vocab people or yourself that tells you your heading into "survival mode"...

Defining Yourself By More then Just Winning....

Here's my recommendations for expanding your mindset of what I have talked about by Men that have seen more then you or I reading this story!!

1) Measure of a Man A Spiritual Autobiography by Sidney Poitier
What can I say, the first black man to win an oscar who grew up dirt poor & had joy in his upbringing!! This book was above my years when I first read it but it expanded my beliefs about "being a man" that holds to his values!!


2) Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman
This has to be the first book to "change" my outlook from a Warrior who was Survival of the Fittest to accepting their is a more Peaceful (Matured) Warrior Way!! Thanks Dan!!

Final Thoughts......

The world will define you by your materials BUT your kids/family will define you by LOVE & Maturing your Ego is a long life process (or so I think so) like life it's a journey NOT a destination!!

Have fun with this new way of looking at Surviving in the world, don't "cop out" of winning just explore what winning REALLY is!!

We all must go through developmental stages in this "Survival of the Fittest Mentality"... I know I have and still am transitioning my perception of how I manage and label this mindset!! In all honesty, it still is in me to be the winner at all costs & like you I need to be "checked", so make sure you have people around you to "check" you when it comes :-)

Kia Kaha = Be Strong because you need to be "strong" to stand on this Matured Approach to Survival of the Fittest!!

Spida Hunter

P.S. I don't regret adopting my early belief of "Survival" & I have NO regrets about what God had in place for me in my father dying!

You Make the Most of What You Got, PERIOD!!