Have you ever thought about your ancestors? Not just those few generations behind you like grandparents or great grandparents but much further back. 50 to 100 generations ago? Life was different several 1000 years ago. If you study ancient civilizations you get a very unique perspective of life. It was not all roses and easy.
Our ancestors used to live in conditions that would be considered poverty by today’s standards. They would have to walk tens of miles just to get water in a bucket. Food was scarce. Disease took children and elderly quickly and indiscriminately. No one was safe on the long roads between settlements or through forests. In those days one would be stabbed or murdered just for getting in someone’s way. If a thief wanted something, your life would be forfeit without question.
People were guilty without due process and were hanged for not paying taxes. Women and children were taken as slaves or killed for sport. Farmers were not guaranteed to be able to make a harvest to feed their families let alone sell their products.
Harsh is how I would describe it. At least compared to the lifestyle we live today. Cars to take us wherever we want, smartphones to connect to anyone, or keep us amused for hours, microwave to heat up food, fridges to store food, houses and material possessions to keep us comfortable. In the olden days when villages were plundered by armies constantly in the throes of war, not many would survive, as most were ruthlessly killed or tortured. The trauma from all those lifetimes has been passed down through our DNA and we all live those horrors in different ways in our lives, we just do not realize it.
Loss of home, family, possessions and life itself show up in scattered forms in our existences. We take our comfortable lives for granted, till life reminds us of its harsh ways with destructive weather, senseless thievery, and killings, that echo the unrest of the wild side of civilization that has been echoing from the ancient times.
Life in ancient times was cheap. Safety and security were rarity for the common man with short periods of feeling well. Yet they all survived. It was a survival time. Some even thrived. Our ancestors could not take anything for granted. The spirit of human ingenuity and survival continues to progress, generation upon generation. The trials of humanity changed, plagues, hygiene, the rise and fall of empires, revolutions, and here we are still letting our DNA out into the terrible world to make something of it.
Going to museums, or watching old biblical style documentaries are a reminder of who we were, where we once came from, and what challenges we once faced. So that the next time you get impatient at the traffic light, or get irritable waiting for your grande mocha java Frappuccino with skim milk or have to be on hold on the phone listening to elevator music, it is wise to take a breath and know that some part of your DNA suffered centuries ago in order to enjoy the luxuries that you have in the present.
Humans have always been disempowered by military and government rules since the dawn of time as empires grew, the lines of territories constantly were redrawn, and entire peoples vanished off the face of the earth like ants washed out of their anthills. Financial markets, uncontrollable illness are the tools that have been used for centuries to manipulate mankind, yet the soul of the human can never be broken, even though the mind and heart can be.
Remember who you are each day, and from the hearty stock that you have come from over eons. Stay blessed.
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I love you
