If we had predators

While I was sitting down with a business lawyer, discussing a business approach, he asked me why I worked with seniors as he noted that I have carved out a very special and different niche.  

My answer is that I have always loved being with and speaking with seniors.  They are no different then you or me, I do not see them as sick. I never have.

‘Yeah, (quick though heavy moment of silence),  I was involved with a board of directors for a nursing home and it is not all pretty what comes with old age.’,he said

We discussed that a bit more and then went on with the meeting.  Here is where those thoughts brought me:

Life to me is a fascinating thing with lots of moving parts.  Helping seniors at a very fragile and delicate time in life there is a lot I have seen including many differently sad and happy people. I would like to say sad and happy lives, but I do not to see their lives, I only see a very short snippet.    I may be too young to understand the whole picture at this point but I do think that what I do today, my health, my finances, my relationships, my decisions will all affect me now and later in life.  The omen is on me and no one else to take care of how I move forward.  Albeit  some control is out of my hands, I get that. 

In my eyes there is always a lot we humans can learn from nature.  I also feel that there is a lot that we are out of tune of regarding how we are in nature.

In the car on the way home after that meeting I had these thoughts: The non pretty things of aging he talked about, how much is due to those people not taking care of themselves over a long period of time? What is linked to illness in regards to long term personal neglect on a physical, emotional and health side of things? Do animals face the same challenges as us towards aging? Are their animals who sit back and let life lead them? Do they remain angry for years because someone from the same pack stole their lunch one day? What about when they get injured, do they sit and pout or does their weakness make it hard to survive that long?  Or are they always ‘on’, forever adapting and making sure to survive? Do their predators make sure there are ‘no weak’ left behind?

And my thoughts finished with this, to which I do not have an answer.  Hmm?  We do not really have  a predator(s).  If we had more fragile shelters (homes) we would have predators, I assume, but we have learned to keep ourselves safe and have also created different tools (guns, knives) that give us an advantage.  Is that what has such a huge impact on our lives?  As we can sit back, not worry about our next lunch too much, not be afraid of being eaten by a predator?  If we had  a predator I think our lives would be really quite different and that there would be fewer issues with health, anger, coasting through life, and aging.  Is it  about us humans not having predators that allows us the luxury to not be as engaged in each of our own lives at every single moment to ensure that we age well?

I would love to discuss this around a dinner table and have a heated discussion about it.  These thoughts truly make me wonder.

What do you think?