The very fact that you are standing here in one piece means that your ancestors were survivors. It means that you too are a survivor. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be standing here in one piece.
Your ancestors had a survival instinct. And, that instinct is embedded in your DNA. So, you too have a survival instinct. Do you remember Charles Darwin’s book on Evolution of Species where he spoke of ‘Survival of the Fittest?’
Your story of survival is the living testimony to the fact that you are among the fittest people that inhabit this earth. If your ancestors were not among the fittest people on earth, you may not have been born. And, you wouldn’t have been alive today. Therefore, it is in your blood to fight for survival. It is in your blood not to give up without a fight.
There are predators and there are prey species in this world. You may encounter predators in numerous forms during your lifetime—in the form of people…in the form of situations or whatever. They may be out to destroy you. They may be out to devour you. But you have to stand up and fight. You have to survive.
The predators are usually carnivorous in nature. They are ruthless. The prey species, on the other hand, are usually herbivores. They are timid. They are mild tempered.
Yet, when a predatory lion or tiger attacks a deer, the deer does not surrender itself to the predator. It does not just stand there and let the predator tear it apart. It runs for its life. It tries to save itself to live for some more time…some more days…some more weeks…some more months…and, if time is on its side…some more years! For the deer, it is a question of life and death. That is what survival instinct is all about.
In life you will encounter many predators in very many different forms. The trick is to stand up and fight. The trick is to never give up without a fight.
Think of the boxers in a boxing ring. Each one is an opponent of the other. They trade punches with one another. In a boxing ring, each contender is a predator and each one could be prey. It is not about who delivers deadly blows or who takes them. It is not about how many times they fall. The whole fight is about who stands up after falling down.
Put yourself in the boxers’ shoes. Whether you are stronger or weaker out of the two contenders is immaterial once you enter the boxing ring. You chose to accept the challenge before you went in there. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been there. So, you’d better fight to finish.
You have to tease and taunt your opponent. You have to steal punches and deliver blows on spots that would fetch a maximum number of points so that you are high on score. And, you have to defend yourself by warding off the punches thrown at you by your opponent.
When your opponent manages to break your defences and his punches land on you, you have to learn how to duck or take those punches gracefully…calmly…so that you can plan how to hit back instantly. So that you may counter-attack to regain lost ground. And, you have to raise yourself and clamber to your feet each time your opponent socks you down to the floor. You have to stand up each time you hit the floor. You cannot succumb to a knockout punch. That is how you regain your position and remain in the game.
The moment you surrender yourself…the moment you let your opponent subdue you…the game is up for you. Every time your opponent punches you to the ground, he might think that he has delivered a knockout Punch. You have to prove him wrong each time by standing up.
If you stand up again and again, you will never end up being the loser. Because, you may be able to tire out even the most formidable opponents of all, who may be technically and physically stronger than you, by standing up each time. In other words, never give up without a sustained fight. And, you may come out a winner.
Remember, you can never lose a bout till you decide to give up.
