toxic relationships

Author Name: Alison T. Duffy
Darcy Lines
Translated by Rania Khuwais

When archaeologist Margaret Mead asked one of her students what she considered the earliest evidence of civilization in human history, the student expected the answer to be: clay dishes, engraved stones, or even a fishing rod. But the professor answered: The first sign of civilization in ancient civilizations was a broken femur that healed. The students were surprised by her answer and asked her to explain. She answered: In the animal kingdom, if an animal's leg is broken, it dies; it cannot escape from danger, reach water, or hunt. An animal with a broken leg cannot survive long enough for its leg to heal, but the presence of a healed femur after a fracture is evidence that someone stayed with the injured person; they tied up its sled, carried it to safety, fed it, gave it water, and cared for it until it healed. Helping someone in difficult times is the starting point of civilization...and in social relationships, the feeling of human security precedes everything else.