By David Tepera, October 26, 2025

Did you know, that your body’s only job, at every moment, is to survive. Do you have to think about breathing? If we did, we would never sleep. Your body needs a constant supply of oxygen to circulate and supply all the organs.

How often does your heart rate increase through exercise? Did you know the heart is a cardiac muscle that needs to frequently elevate?  It’s an involuntary muscle that keeps pumping without us having to think about it. Just know, the heart pumps on average around 100,000 times per day.

When the body needs nutrition for energy and repair, the stomach will release the Ghrelin hormone to tell the brain “it’s time to eat”. I know, Americans are obsessed with food, so going hungry is not an issue for most.

For all of us snowy white skinned people, exposure to the sun will produce more melanin. The extra melanin moves to the surface of the skin making it darker for protection. It only offers a limited amount of melanin, which is why there is still sunburns, premature aging, and skin cancer.

Here’s an interesting fact; did you ever notice female swimmer athletes carry more body fat than expected? Think about it, these elite athletes swim hours per day, but some body fat will distribute across their bodies. Well, it’s because the body is trying to survive, and fat is what keeps them buoyant. The body doesn’t want to sink and die.

This typically doesn’t happen to men due to high testosterone levels. That’s why they are so much faster.

We don’t have many cold or frozen days in south Texas, but when it is, why do we shiver? The body is trying to survive the cold weather, so it shivers to create heat. Just like perspiring when overheating, the body will cool itself down.

Also, you must realize our bodies have a waste removal system for protection against unwanted materials. The lungs remove carbon dioxide, kidneys filter waste from blood and make urine, liver detoxifies harmful substances, and of course, the digestive system expels what the body doesn’t absorb.

Just know, the human body can’t survive without water for more than three days. There are records of people surviving up to five and seven days, but it was during cold conditions.

Now, how are you going to treat your body today? What nutritional value will it receive, how much water intake, frequency of exercise, and so on?

Bottom line, how did your body survive today?