Survivor

Well as most of you know, I am a huge fan of the reality show Survivor (I know sad). Anyways, last night was the season finale of Survivor Guatemala and it was as they always are pretty intense. As I watched the show and I heard competitors lash out at each other for lying and going back on alliances they made with one another, it got me thinking. I wonder if I were ever put in a situation like that if winning a million dollars would cause me to totally put aside any morals and values that I have. I am a very competitive person but it seems like these folks let money fog their views. I still love the show, don't get me wrong, and I will still tune in next season. It just brought up some questions in my mind, that makes me wonder if I would let my guard down if I had the opportunity to win a lot of money. I hope that I have better values instilled in me and that I could use that to my advantage to be strategic but at the same time true to myself and what I stand for, honesty and integrity. I'm not saying that these folks on Survivor are bad people, they all seem pretty nice and for the most part kind-hearted, I just think that they let greed and competition get the best of them. From the outside looking in, I learned a little by watching this show, allows me to continue to keep myself grounded and remember what I stand for in all aspects of my life. No matter what the "prize" I need to stay focused on the important things in life and not let "money/greed/materialism" cloud my vision because I know that I am a better person than that. Don't get me wrong, I like to have nice things just like everyone else, and this is one of my struggles, just ask my husband, I love to shop and too often spend too much money. I like to think that this is okay and try to justify it, but more often than not, the things I purchase I could do without. Anyways, enough rambling. In a nutshell though, I think we all need to examine our hearts and imagine ourselves in a situation such as this where we forget who we are, and think if you would put your integrity on the line to get a little ahead in life. Too often we forget the little things in life that make the biggest difference. I saw a shirt yesterday (yes as I was shopping), that said "Kindness can change the world." I thought that was pretty cool and I try to live my life that way as much as I can, simply holding the door and extra 3 seconds for someone, sometimes can make a small difference. Oh yeah, another thing that just struck me, one of the contestants on Survivor won a brand new vehicle, she had the opportunity to give her car up and 4 other competitors would all get brand new cars. She chose to keep her car. I'm not saying she made the wrong decision, but put me in that situation I would have made 4 people very happy. I believe a lot in Karma and what goes around comes around. So giving 4 people brand new cars, one of which will probably win a million dollars, odds are pretty good that one way or another 5 people would have had new cars in the end, and if not you would feel pretty good with your decision of sacrifice. Here are some Survivor facts.
-In all, there have been 150 different American Survivor players over the 10 seasons, 18 of whom got to play twice.
-The toy company, Mattel, published a board game and a card game based on the television series in the year 2000. The card game was officially called Survivor: The Australian Outback Card Game.
-Rudy Boesch is currently the only Survivor contestant to have an action figure created in his image.
-Traditionally one of the final reward challenges of each series has awarded a car as a prize. No player who has won this challenge has gone on to win the million dollar prize.
-In the 10 completed seasons of Survivor, 5 women have won and 5 men have won.