Survival of the Fittest: The Art of Adjustment

Life does not always run the way we want it to. It does not always flow in the current we are used to swimming in. It does not always abide by our terms and conditions. This is where the concept of adjustment comes in.

We might have often heard our parents call us or somebody else a very adjusting person. But what does it really mean to be an adjusting person? Who is, after all, this ‘adjusting person’?
A person is an adjusting person when she/he adjusts with life in all kinds of circumstances.
Dealing gracefully with a situation you have no control on is the highest form of adjustment.

I understand that this larger view of adjustment might seem very ambiguous and so I will use examples from our daily life to put across my point more clearly.

-All of us with siblings have been in situations where we have had to deal with typical sibling things even we least wanted to. Sharing clothes and other possessions, sharing a bedroom with them, babysitting them or taking them along for hangouts are some things we have all been through- younger and older siblings alike. Doing all of this without a fuss is an example of being able to adjust.

– When planning out family dinners, it is not always possible to go to the restaurant that you like, or have the cuisine you prefer. Other people’s choice has to be taken into consideration. That, again, is a very important form of adjustment.

-Growing up with older siblings, I had to be a victim of a lot of cancelled vacation plans because of my sister’s exams. I accepted the cancellations without a fuss but I knew that sometime in the future, she would make the same adjustment for me.

-Our parents are the epitome of adjustment. They make all sorts of adjustments to ensure a comfortable life for us. Unlike us, they don’t even think twice before making such adjustments.

Our readers might brush these examples off as being very minute instances of sacrifice. But the fact of life remains that it is only when we can make these adjustments without any regrets or second thoughts can we prepare ourselves to make larger adjustments in life, be it at home or in the workplace.
After citing these every day examples, I realized that I forgot to include, among all of this, the importance of adjustment.

Since the beginning of time, we’ve heard about the “Survival of the Fittest” theory. What does it mean to survive and what does it mean to be the fittest?
Survival is living through life, while fittest is someone who is more adamantly ready to adapt to any situation is order to survive. Does adjustment not mean the same thing too- surviving under all kinds of circumstances?
This world is a roller coaster, a maze. You are not always where you wish to be, but you are somewhere, and in order to get through you have to adjust that somewhere.
Adjusting doesn’t have to be with situations, always. Sometimes you need to adjust with people, too.
In office, we need to adjust with our colleagues and our higher officials.
At home, we need to adjust with members of our family who might not share the same preferences like us.
After marriage, we need to adjust with our in-laws.
At a more larger level, while out in the public, we have to adjust with the society and the people.
I say people, because it is extremely important to adjust with them.
Life is certainly unpredictable. Problems do not provide you with a warning before arriving in your life. They just come up, suddenly. Under compromised circumstances, is it but natural for us to expect other people to adjust with us. Is it not, then, a social expectation that we, too, should adjust with other people?

However, it is very important to always remember that adjusting does not always mean submitting to other people. There is a thin line between adjusting with people and letting them have their way always. At some point, we need to plant our feet firm and maintain our stance.

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