Survival should be about more than just the absence of death.

Økologisk Nu

We eat approximately 1,000 main meals per year. This includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner times 365 days minus the days when things don't go according to plan. 1,000 meals. Each main meal constitutes a small fraction of the year's total meals. We live 80-90 years. That means 80,000-90,000 main meals over a long life. So, we have 80,000-90,000 chances to experience something good or bad. On the positive side, Claus Meyer would probably talk about pleasure, sensuality, good taste, and love. On the negative side, one could speak of indifference, boring food, bad taste, and mere survival. By survival, I mean being here tomorrow, and survival defined as "absence of death." I believe we should redefine survival. To survive should mean that one has contributed positively to one's own life, both in the short term and the long term. If you "survive," you have done something good, which means you are better off, have more resources, and better abilities to survive beyond just "getting by." This creates a basis for introducing the concept of "underliving," which should mean that through your meal, you have contributed negatively to your own life, both in the short and long term. This conceptualization should have consequences: the realization should be that each meal is important, and that a meal is something you should not take lightly. The meal should be evaluated, and we should reflect on whether it was a "survive-account" meal or an "underlive-account" meal. We should ask ourselves how we can create more "survive" meals for ourselves and our loved ones. In many other cases, my perspective on life is that it is lived in the smallest moments, and that it is the sum of these small moments that creates life. A small moment is precisely a meal, eye contact, companionship, a relationship, an experience, a hug, understanding, reconciliation, insight, challenge, defeat, conflict, fight, kiss, cheer, tribute, tears, a nod, an acknowledgment. The next main meal is important. It is part of the rest of our main meals. Therefore, we should be attentive to it. And that’s why we should ask ourselves some questions: Was the meal healthy, proper, and nourishing? Did it give energy and appetite for life? Was it prepared, and did it happen together with someone? Did it meet dietary guidelines? Were there toxic or chemical elements in the meal? Could I understand what I was eating? Was it made by people I trust? Would I repeat it? Set demands, primarily on yourself, and take responsibility for maintaining a good balance between surviving and underliving. If you create more "survive" meals and fewer "underlive" meals, I am confident that the benefit, alongside a richer and better life, will be the increase in "experience" meals.

We eat approximately 1,000 main meals per year. It is breakfast, lunch, and dinner x 365 minus the days when things don't go according to plan. 1,000 meals. Each main meal constitutes a per mille of the year's main meals.

We live 80-90 years. That is 80,000-90,000 main meals over a long life. We therefore have 80,000-90,000 chances to experience something good or bad. On the positive side, Claus Meyer would probably talk about pleasure, sensuousness, good taste, and love. On the negative side, one could talk about indifference, boring food, bad taste, and mere survival.

Survival understood as being here tomorrow, and survival defined as "absence of death".

I think we should redefine survival. To survive should mean that one has contributed positively to one's own life, both in the short term and the long term. If you "survive," you have done something good that means you are better off, have more resources, and better abilities to survive more than just "getting by".

It creates the basis for introducing the concept of "underliving," which should conversely mean that through your meal, you have contributed negatively to your own life, both in the short and long term.

This conceptualization should have consequences: The realization should be that each individual meal is important, and that a meal is something you should not take lightly.

The meal should be evaluated, and we should reflect on whether it was a "survive-account" meal or an "underlive-account" meal.

We should ask ourselves, how can I create more survive-meals for myself and my loved ones? In many other cases, my perspective on life is that it is lived in the smallest moments, and that it is the sum of the smallest moments that creates life.

A smallest moment is precisely a meal, eye contact, companionship, a relationship, an experience, a hug, understanding, reconciliation, insight, challenge, a setback, a conflict, a fight, a kiss, a battle cry, a tribute, a tear, a nod, an acknowledgment.

The next main meal is important. It is part of the rest of our main meals. Therefore, we should be attentive to it. And therefore, one should ask oneself some questions:

Set demands, primarily on yourself, and assign yourself the responsibility that things go well with the balance between surviving and underliving. If you create more "survive" meals and fewer "underlive" meals, I feel confident that the benefit, alongside a more and better life, will be the increase in experience-meals.