On a warm June day, when I was 8 years old, my mother took me and my siblings to the movies. She told us we were going to see "March of the Penguins". I thought it was a bit stupid that my mom was making us go see a documentary. I'm still pretty sure the only reason she actually wanted to see it was it being an excuse to listen to Morgan Freeman's voice for an hour and a half... but, really, who could blame her? Either way, my little elementary school-self walked into that theater ready to fall asleep, but the movie started rolling and I was in for something unexpected: there are few times in my life that I have been as focused and infatuated with something as I was with that documentary. I walked out of that theater and I knew: I loved penguins, I still love penguins, I'll always love penguins, and you should love penguins, too.
Humans could learn so, so much from those silly little tuxedoed birds, if we only take the time to pay attention.
Penguins, like humans, live in communities. It makes sense for them to from an evolutionary standpoint- predators, warmth, food. Everyone has to stick together. We also live in communities, but we aren't here for the same reasons. We aren't here-- living in our cities, our towns, our college campuses-- for protection. We aren't here for warmth. We aren't here to nurture and support each other... but we should be. The human race has become so selfish. We are born to get a job. A job to get you money. Money to make you more attractive, to make you well sought-out. That attractiveness translates into esteem. You build up that esteem and cling onto it until the day you die. You live your life so that you can be better than and outgrow your community; your community tries to push you down and outgrow you. It's always a competition and, quite frankly, it's miserable.
Penguins aren't like we are: penguins aren't egotistical or selfish. Just as much as penguins are in their communities to keep themselves healthy, they're there to support and protect each other. The winds are cutting and the temperature is around -60° C. Penguins live their lives in the bitter, bitter cold- it's freezing, but their hearts do not harden. With the help of their communities, they keep each other warm. They do it as a team. Emperor penguins huddle for warmth: they create packed circles with one penguin standing in the center. The group will heat that penguin up, and once they are warm, they give up their position in the center to warm someone else. Penguins aren't looking to hog the spotlight, to make others work to keep them on to. They help each other, they care for each other, and everyone is an equal.
Penguins are so, so loving. Most penguin species are completely monogamous; they mate for life. A penguin will find its partner and they will stick together, through the harsh and bitter cold, for the rest of their days. Many humans claim to be monogamous: we like to think that we're all capable of loving one person, more than any, for the rest of our lives... but fewer and fewer people are willing to commit. Imagine if virtually everyone you knew stuck with their high school sweetheart for the rest of their lives- through everything. That's penguin monogamy. Penguins will mate with one parter — just one — for their entire lives and the only thing that ever seems to break these couples up is when one of them dies. How's that for "'til death do us part"?
Life doesn't get easier for the penguin once it commits. People seem to think that once they find the love of their life, once they find that one person, that everything is simple. They think that, from there, life is a straightaway path. In our lives, and in the lives of penguins, that is not the case. Once a penguin finds "the one", it settles down and has children... and raising a child isn't easy, no matter what you are, but penguins raise their child with so much strength, determination, and confidence.
You think that you have it hard as a human? Think again. As soon as the female penguin lays her egg, she leaves her mate to take care of it. The mate will then warm the egg as the mother searches for food. The mother penguin will venture over 50 miles to reach open ocean: a journey that takes two entire months. In this time, the father penguin will not move from this egg. They will huddle together in hopes of keeping themselves, as well as their children, warm. The fathers won't even eat... this goes on for two months. Two months of standing there, in a huddle, in the harsh cold. Two months without food. All while completely trusting the mother to come back, safely, with food. While keeping absolute faith that the mother will not fail on her task, that she will find the ocean, that she will not starve, or wander off, or get killed. Complete trust; complete dedication.
While the father is trusting and faithful, the mother is resilient and brave. She ventures out over 50 miles to a sea full of predators. She pushes out through barren white snow, through extreme cold, through hostile winds, all in hopes of making it to the dangerous ocean to provide for her young. A child that, due to the treacherous climate in which they live, might not even survive. The mother penguin has the odds against her, but she still perseveres.
Can you imagine a situation where you were in the mother penguin's position? A situation in which you had all odds against you. Everything that could go wrong had gone wrong and it seemed like you had no chance of getting where you wanted to be. It just didn't seem worth it anymore. Do you have a situation in your head? Now, think: did you stick it through? In the face of intense adversity, did you put your heart and soul in and just push through? We, as a society, tend to give up so quickly. Something's too hard and we give up- I'm guilty of it, too. A class is hard and we don't want to study. We're really tired and just don't want to go to the gym. You keep applying for better jobs, you keep putting yourself out there and the phone still isn't ringing. You messed things up with a friend, a family member, or a co-worker and you have no idea how you can fix it. It's so easy to say "it's too hard" or "I can't do this" and give up on yourself. But if a penguin can do it, so can you. Push through. Throw your troubles and insecurities aside. You can make it to the ocean.
Penguins are under so much pressure and are in such intense environments, but they don't lose sight of what matters. They maintain a positive attitude. Penguins aren't aggressive or cynical or nasty. They just live the life they are given. Penguins don't take themselves too seriously, but they know exactly what they're doing and exactly how they're going to get there. I find myself getting so caught up in the tiniest details of my life that I get distracted and wrapped up in petty stuff and lose focus of what is actually important. Penguins don't lose focus. Penguins enjoy life for what it is.
Human life isn't easy, but neither is a penguin's. A penguin's life is hard and still, No matter how difficult it gets, their demeanor does not change. Penguins live their lives whimsically, eagerly, and lovingly. Life your own life with the spirit of a penguin.
