Here’s to the fight

I’m working on something, and came across something i wrote almost 20 years ago, and i was talking about how life’s ultimate destination is death and humanity’s ultimate desire is survival. I went on to talk about the two choices in any struggle that life throws at you – give up, or fight.

I was thinking last night – I have seen both sides of this coin firsthand. I have seen people fight with every single ounce of strength that they have, and even some they didn’t even realize they had. I have seen people give up and simply spend their time waiting for the inevitable, doing next to nothing to improve their situation in the meantime. The results are or will be the same – we all die. Some would argue that that simple fact begs the question, “so what’s the point in fighting?”

To me, the point in fighting is to not accept defeat. To live your life on your terms in spite of anything that life is going to throw your way. Life is hard, no matter who you are. It’s confusing and complicated and difficult and uncertain and scary as hell. But, if you give up, the only thing that really goes away is the uncertainty. If you give up, give in, roll over and wait for death to come for you, the only thing you get out of that is likely its hastened arrival. Or, a lifeless existence perpetuated my minimal yet meaningless effort. If, on the other hand, you fight tooth and nail for what you want, you will gain knowledge, experiences and perspective that you never had before. And, you get to fill your time with something other than thinking about how much life sucks.

I, for one, am all for the fight. Yes, it’s draining. Yes, it’s hard. Yes, we all eventually ‘lose’ in the end. But in my eyes, the hardest of hard is a hundred billion times better than not even trying.