Once upon a time there were three bears ...
The first bear was a big, fat, Kodiak-looking fellow, who dominated a huge range and ate everything within that range. He didn't allow other bears to feed in his range, and was considered to be one of The Top Bears in Bear Country.
The second bear was your Average Bear. He stayed out of the way of Top Bears and kept to his own, small range, and was content.
The third bear was Hungry Bear. He wandered throughout Bear Country, sampling a little of this, a little of that. Top Bears, and even Average Bears, would try and chase him out of their territory. He was lean, hungry and constantly on the move, and never content.
Then, famine came to Bear Country. Food was scarce. To conserve his strength, Top Bear reduced his territory, which meant he couldn't find enough food to maintain his massive size. The game warden, whose job it was to protect the bears, and to protect the other creatures from the bears (a real conflict, if you ask me!), had to step in and give food to the Top Bear, because, as he noted, "This bear is just Too Big to Fail!"
Average Bear grew lean, then gaunt. He kept begging for food from the game warden, but the game warden had given nearly all the food to the Top Bear. Average Bear ate the crumbs that were left, and grew leaner, and weaker.
Hungry Bear, already lean, kept moving faster and into more territories. The other bears didn't have the energy to chase him away. He grew even leaner, but stayed on the move, and was even hungrier than before.
Then came the winter, when bears hibernate. Top Bear was still fat, from all the government food the game warden had given him. Average Bear was emaciated, and hungry and sick. But both bears crawled into their dens to hibernate.
Hungry Bear looked around, and didn't see any other bears. They were all hibernating. So, he began moving throughout their territories, eating a little of this, a little of that. As long as he kept moving, and didn't hibernate, he had plenty of food to sustain him.
Spring came, and Top Bear yawned and came out of his den. And there was Hungry Bear, having taken over a lot of Top Bear's territory, and Top Bear was too tired to chase him off. Besides, there was still some of the government food left.
Average Bear never woke up.
So, what are you going to do? Hibernate, or get lean, strong and expand your territory?
