Evolve or Die

The trend with businesses: If you don’t evolve, you will die. Blockbuster, Sears, JC Penney, Pier One Imports, Hertz. Just to name a few of the more notable and most recent.

As with business, so it is with humanity. We must evolve or we will die. Death will come for each and every one of us in time. But with longer life expectancies, the reaper might be delayed from his usual rounds. Almost 8 billion people on this planet. That is about double than what it was fifty years ago. The number is only going to go up. Unless:

• We can’t get along. A more crowded earth means more differences between its inhabitants. Add some global warming in there, and we are staring at a big bucket of crabs keeping everybody else from getting to the top for a breath of fresh air (or freedom).
• More pandemics. They have been around for centuries, and they are only getting stronger. Every couple of years a new one surges to the forefront. It is only a matter of time before the next one comes to collect its due.
• More global catastrophes. We think we are the all-powerful dominators of this globe. Yet in the face of a hurricane, earthquake, or volcano, we are faced with our own fragility.

The list could go on. One only has to look at the Book of Revelations and start making the comparisons. What can we do with such dire tidings? How can we ensure a brighter future for our children and their children? We can:

• Figure out how to get along. At least, until we learn how to zip off to Mars and begin the prequel to Frank Herbert’s Dune.
• Get aggressive in fighting these viruses. We need to get healthier. We need to become more resilient as individuals. And we need to put our minds and money to work fighting the real enemies.

“The discoveries of healing science must be the inheritance of all. That is clear. Disease must be attacked, whether it occurs in the poorest or the richest man or woman, simply on the ground that it is the enemy; and it must be attacked just in the same way as the fire brigade will give its full assistance to the humblest cottage as readily as to the most important mansion.” –Winston Churchill

• Be responsible citizens of this planet. Right now it is the only one we got. We might not be able to change the weather, but we can at least pick up after ourselves. We can make better choices, consume less stuff, and take care of the things we have. Until technology can come up with the right solutions, we can do our part.

The earth’s population will soon recognize, if they haven’t already done so, that humanity is now faced with a stark choice: evolve or die. –Eckhart Tolle

The choice is ours. To stand idly by the wayside and let things run their course is to invite death. We must find the courage to forge ahead. We might not suffer too much if we don’t, but we won’t leave humanity, our children and their children, a better place for those who come after us.