Last night was the season finale of Survivor. I love Survior. I love the social aspect of the game. There are no real rules. Being strong can be an advantage and a disadvantage. When those twenty people are dropped off, there is no way to predict who will be there at the end.
Some forget they are playing a game. There is the mental and physical challenge of being hungry, tired, hot, cold and stressed without any contact from your loved ones for weeks. The people on the show cite the experience as much as the money as the reason they do it. Often people say it changes them for life just to have gone through the experience.
Even better than Survivor is Naked and Afraid. Naked and Afraid is Survivor on steroids. The contestants are put in even harsher conditions. They are literally naked, not a stitch of clothing. They are given no food and no water. It is a pair, a man and a woman, and they each bring one survival tool with them. Typically it’s a fire starter and a knife. The goal is to survive 21 days. That is about as long as you can go without food and they rarely find enough food to sustain themselves. And, to top it off, there is no million dollar prize. There is no prize at all. If you make it, you get bragging rights.
As I watch these shows from the comfort of my couch, with my fully belly, warm in winter, cool in summer I often wonder what drives someone to take on such a severe test. As far as I know, no one has died on either show, but on Naked and Afraid, people have gotten seriously and even deathly ill. It’s no joke. What warriors those peole must be.
Then, it hits me. That’s us. That is each and every person on this planet. This place is no joke. We come in literally naked and afraid, screaming our lungs out. We have nothing. We can’t speak. We can’t even walk. There are no guarantees of anything, except we will one day exit. And we have no idea when or how. How brave must we be. What warriors and adventurers are we to take this adventure in pursuit of soul growth. Coming to this place Naked and Afraid is no small feat.
