Survival Instincts

I spent the midnight hour (and beyond) last night/this morning watching Titanic. Every time I watch that movie, I marvel at the fact that it really happened. A tragedy of such large (titanic..ugh) proportions seems impossible to me. I slept through the middle and woke up to watch the long, drawn out sinking of this massive ship and see the turmoil and terror of the passengers. While I watched this, I wondered...at what point do your survival instincts kick in? When do you realize that it's hopeless and give up? Do you just lay down and die?

My mind raged with thoughts of how I would handle the situation. Would I be like the mother in steerage who put her kids to bed and recited a story for them? They would go in peace and not know the horror of what was going on around them. The mother was calm, just like it was any other night. (I certainly do not foresee myself being calm in such a situation, by the way). Would I be like the elderly couple who got in bed and held each other, aware of what was going on, but not feeling the necessity to do anything differently to save themselves? I'd like to think that I would be like Jack and Rose and fight against the people to get to the bow of the ship, only to hold on until the last minute, staying out of the water as long as possible. Who am I kidding? I'd be the first one in line for the lifeboats--pushing and shoving and demanding that I get on.

But, really, what would I do if I had to fend for myself, my husband, and my child? Would it be different if I only had to fend for myself? When do survival instincts take over and prove Darwin right? Is it really about survival of the fittest? When does your intellectual mind overrule the animal brain and you realize that it's pointless to try and save yourself? When does the animal brain dominate and make you step on people to save yourself?

They always say you never know someone else's situation until you walk in their shoes...imagine walking in the shoes of a passenger on Titanic.

What would YOU do?