Interesting thing about life is....

Have been musing lately over life and what it really means. I only usually think about heavy stuff like this when I'm either drunk or stoned and it kinda surprised my friends hehehe and me when I brought up this topic 'clean'. So what IS life? We all go through this journey with some kind of perception or expectation of it. There is no manual which tells you how to get through it. Some may turn to the holy books - Bible, Koran or The Veda's for some inspiration. Why would someone turn to centuries old references to live out this life? How could anyone living thousands of years ago possibly have any idea what we "modern" humans were going through? And yet the fundamentals of human existence is based on one common thing - survival. Then and now! We are always fighting for survival, our ancestors lived through survival of the fittest. If you were not fit enough to get your own food, you were a goner, if by some disorder of the genes you did not fully evolve physically (or mentally) to survive the cold, you were out. All that's left were the strongest, fittest men and women. We descended from this pool of people, but life for us has evolved oh so conveniently to what it is today in comparison with our ancestors'. That's the Darwinian theory perspective. From a theological perspective, let's use the folks from the Holy Bible (only because I'm familiar with it), they had to survive! I guess to them surviving also meant living. The Israelites who were slaves in Egypt -survived! they went on to becoming one of the greatest people of ancient times. The Egyptians survived the plagues of the Lord. Survival! Coming back to the present - modern times with its sophisticated technology should be offering us convenience; the luxury of not having to hunt for our supper or growing bodily hair (some of us are not too lucky) just to keep ourselves warm. And yet, it is still survival, let's look at the average middle class person. Scenario: Middle class male, with wife and family, living in a metropolitan city. Earning a salary which is just about enough to feed his family of 3. Being part of the rat race - he has but to survive! If he's not good enough, some punk fresh out of college will uproot him from his 15 year job (he had kids late ;)) cos he's not 'with it'. Survival! The change that takes place throughout the different phases of his life. From bachelor to husband - survival!. From husband to husband AND father - survival! From adored father to father who embarrasses his teenage kids - survival! etc. etc. etc. Life goes on. What would happen to Mr. X if he does not move up the corporate ladder amidst the dogs who eat other dogs? He would not survive! Of course I'm looking at one perspective here, it's not that the world would end here but just the fact that you still need to survive! It may not be as dramatic as our ancestors' survival but it's survival nonetheless. What happens to the non-survivors then? Hmm...