Nature's Characteristics and Way
In my earlier blogs, I have emphasized that our world and the nature of the world that surrounds and sustains us, follows the natural laws of premature death. Although nature is there to give us food, clothing, shelter, information and comforting, it can not and does not work to the advantage of everyone. As a result, within nature there are systems and processes that are extremely unkind and lethal.
Overall, those that do well within our natural environment do so not because they are particularly bright or alert, but because they are relatively fortunate and are located and associated with relatively more benign situations, times and events. Nature, even in the long term, is not about natural selection, nor is it about survival of the fittest, it is more about relative predestination.
That does not mean that one should be fatalistic, far from it. What is does mean is that your position within nature is relative to everyone else's, and every other entity's existence within nature. What moves natural processes is relatively, but not completely, unpredictable. There is scope to extend ones survival against premature death, which nature demands as a normal course of things.
One aspect of our natural world is that living systems can be created and destroyed, and that living systems are not necessarily like an independent body. Life is more than our visible physics even though we tend to see living things are completely dependent on things physically obvious.
Life and Nature
We know that the nature of nature is about the life and death of living systems. These systems may or may not have self awareness, but they have the capacity to live and reproduce. They also have the possibility of being lucky, being located in places and situations that will further their survival and will lead to benign growth of very fragile communities of existence. One of the capacities of those systems that will survive is that they are not only self aware, but that they are aware also of their good luck, and do not assume that it is anything but good luck.
As the products of nature, we are at the mercy of many processes that we, ourselves, in the here and now, can not ever understand. There just isn't enough time for us. Later on, others may understand, but we have limited understanding and have to deal with the world living our lives within our limited understanding.
Gratitude and Trying to Protect Yourself, Your Family, and Community
The most important element of your survival is gratitude for whatever opportunity that you receive within your community of survival. It may be very small and very fleeting.
What gratitude does is affect attitude and attitude brings you closer to understanding your 'true' situation. Without the right attitude, you will predispose yourself towards nature's rule of premature death. Being grateful, means that you focus on understanding what you can, and that you recognize the fragility of your situation, your life and your present luck at still surviving. Being grateful should mean that you reinforce those things that would strengthen your chances of survival because you are aware of the fragility of your predicament. The less you are grateful and understand your fragile situation, the more likely you will be to die prematurely. This appears to be nature's law.