Animal Superiority

            I've often thought that animals know how to live far better than we humans do. I mean, yes, we’re brilliant and have made all these nifty gadgets and such that make our lives better, but I have to wonder... Are we really as clever as we think?

            I first thought this while observing pets. A perfect example is a dog – various fictional characters, when asked what kind of animal they want to be, answer “a dog”. Because dogs get taken care of by their owners and sleep all day. The thing is, out in the wild it’s nearly the same thing. The dog sleeps most of the day and hunts so it can eat. It’s the same with all animals – eat, sleep and, sometimes, avoid predators. It’s a simple life, but a good one.

            Now look at humans. The average adult human wakes up to an alarm five (or more) days a week, goes to work tired because they didn't get enough sleep, slogs through eight hours of work and returns home. Of course, what do they have to do at home? More work to maintain their homes, unless they live in unhealthy conditions or have worked hard enough that they can pay for others to take care of their homes.

            We’re told all our lives to be grateful for what we have – a roof over our head, food to eat, etc. It’s true, of course – I can’t even imagine having to live without the conveniences I grew up with, but at the same time, I often look out the window and see what humans have done to this world and it makes me feel sick.

            Then I think of those animals out there, living day-to-day with their only real concern being to find food and not become it. Their days aren't divided into thirds where they have eight hours to sleep, eight hours to work and a final eight hours to eat, get ready for work, travel to and from work, do housework and maybe, if there’s a bit of time left over, do something they enjoy.

            Sure, we humans have all these great conveniences, but all the work we have to do in order to keep and maintain them kind of takes away from our time to actually live our lives. Not to mention the destruction of the planet. If we’re really so smart and great, shouldn't we be maintaining and nurturing the planet rather than tearing it to pieces?

            Animals live their lives, eating when they are hungry, sleeping when they are tired and doing essentially whatever they want (except when they’re the ones being eaten). Meanwhile, humans work and work and work so they can work some more and have a few conveniences.

            Are we really all that superior?

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.