Life presents us with trials and hardships. The challenge of evolving into a healthier individual is learning to adapt and cope with adversity, then taking that newfound resilience into the new year.
I detailed my life-changing year in last week’s tiny buddha post. Attempting to keep with the science theme of this site and my love of evolutionary theory, I began to think of life’s adversities through a Darwinian lens. But on a much smaller scale.
To cope with the difficulties life throws my way, I must adapt to my environment.
Adaptation defined
The driving mechanism for the theory of natural selection is adaptation. Adaptation drives evolution. From the biological point of view, adaptations are physical and behavioral features that help an organism survive in its environment.
If an environment changes drastically, an organism with a specific trait, like a thicker coat of fur, will survive better and live to pass those traits onto the next generation. Eventually, a thicker coat will become widespread throughout the population living in that environment.
Through selection pressure, common traits that take advantage of the resources available become defining adaptations of an organism. As an environment changes organisms having the ability and genetics to take advantage of new resources, will breed more successfully.
Not all adaptations are physical. Behaviors can evolve from adaptations, such as sensory systems or anatomical differences which lead to diverse behaviors.
Human Adaptation
Adaptation comes from the Latin word adapto` meaning I fit or I adjust to. I just learned that! And it is what humans have done for 50,000 or so years.
We have shaped our environment in countless ways. We have adapted to walk upright, speak, and use tools to create and change the world to suit our needs.
from https://www.pexels.com/photo/black-metal-tools-hanged-on-a-rack-near-table-162631/
Humans have evolved unique adaptations to ensure survival early on. For example, we are the only mammal to experience morning sickness. Researchers believe morning sickness evolved as protection for developing fetuses from the toxic effects of the human diet. Studies show a decreased chance of miscarriages in women who experience more frequent bouts of sickness in the first eighteen weeks of pregnancy.
There is emerging research into the human capacity to hibernate as an adaptation to periods of starvation. This could be applied to research into Alzheimer’s treatment and extended space travel.
Psychological adaptation to stress
All this brings me to the theme of the title, and my approach to 2022.
We are advised by therapists to learn how to adapt and become more resilient to stresses in life. Adaptation in psychology is more of a colloquialism. We really don’t adapt to stress in the biological sense, we acclimatize. That’s a mouthful of syllables. If I gave a friend advice for dealing with a catastrophic change in life by suggesting they needed to acclimatize, I would sound coldblooded.
The sad reality is, we must adapt to the new. We must cope with changes. We must be resilient in the face of hardships. Sometimes children who face adversity never learn how to adapt. They may grow into adults who aren’t able to cope. I’m sure everyone knows someone who is like this. Some individuals have the capacity, the feature within their personality, to adapt to the fluctuations in life. That doesn’t always make life easier. It’s a skill we must learn and practice.
I am an adaptive person. I learned to drift with the waves as a young kid. Sometimes that makes me appear cold and callus. While I may adapt better than some there are still moments when I just can’t. There are times when no one can. I have to remind myself to keep trying.
Bad times won’t stop, though. That’s life. We are humans, and good or bad, humans are one of the most adaptable organisms on the planet.
Take home
Some people don’t recognize adversities. They either forget anything ever happened, or they change the narrative. Issues are easier to deal with that way, but you can’t learn by forgetting.
We can’t adapt to hardships or evolve stronger healthier methods of dealing with the trials of life if we don’t face them. I choose to learn from the crap that’s thrown my way. It sucks sometimes, but I still have hope.
