A survival emergency could possibly happen to anyone, anywhere. When confronted with an unexpected survival situation man has the potential to overcome many challenges, beat incredible odds, and come out a survivor. But just what is survival anyway? Survival is the art of surviving beyond any event. To survive means to remain alive; to live. Survival is taking any given circumstance, accepting it, and trying to improve it, while sustaining your life until you can get out of the situation. And most importantly, survival is a state of mind.
Survival
depends a great deal on a person's ability to withstand stress in emergency
situations. Your brain is without doubt your best survival tool. It is your most valuable asset in a survival situation. It isn't
always the physically strong who are the most effective or better at handling
fear in emergency situations. Survival more often depends on the individual's
reactions to stress than upon the danger, terrain, or nature of the emergency.
To adapt is to live. Mental skills are much more important than physical skills
in survival situations. A person's psychological reactions to the stress of
survival can often make them unable to utilize their available resources. You
most likely won't use your physical skills if you don't have a positive mental
attitude.
One
definitely must be in the proper frame of mind to survive an unplanned survival
situation. Attitude or psychological state is most certainly
number one. It is undoubtedly the most important ingredient of survival. With
the proper attitude almost anything is possible. To make it through the worst a
strong will or determination to live is needed. A powerful desire to continue
living is a must. The mind has the power to will the body to extraordinary
feats. Records have shown that will alone has often been the major factor for
surviving wilderness emergencies. Without the will to live survival is
impossible. Survival is possible in most situations but it demands a lot of a
person. Humans can be very brave and resourceful when in emergency situations.
The mind is a very powerful force. It has control of the body, its actions, and
its reasoning. What affects you mentally affects you physically. If you think
that you can't survive, then you won't try to survive. A commitment or goal to
live, refusal to give up, and positive mental attitude greatly increase chances
for survival.
A
positive attitude has a very strong influence on the mentality and motivation
necessary for setting a goal to live. Set goals give
motivation and attitude necessary to survive pressures. When placed in an
unexpected survival situation you will be forced to rely upon your own
resources; improvising needs and solving problems for yourself. If you want to
survive then you must ultimately decide to take care of yourself and to not
count on others to help you. You must continually strive towards a goal of
survival. Picture your goal in your mind and visualize yourself reaching it. A
person with a stubborn strong will power can conquer many obstacles. Never give
up your goal to live, because without any will to live those lost in the
wilderness will likely despair and die.
While
in your survival situation you will be confronted with many problems that you
will need to overcome. Your brain will be your best asset but it could
also be your most dangerous enemy.You will have to defeat negative thoughts and
imaginations, and also control and master your fears. You will need to shift
mental processes and adopt that positive and optimistic "can do attitude".
You will need to be creative and use your ability to improvise to adapt to the
situation. Work with nature instead of against it. You will have the crucial
task of solving the problems of staying alive. Your problem solving must be
based on recognizing threats to your life, knowing their priority of influence,
knowing their severity of threat to your life, and taking actions that will
keep you alive. It is important to consider your safety at all times. If you
sum up and analyze what you need to combat it will be easier to fight known
enemies than if you were fighting something unknown. Loneliness, fatigue, pain,
cold/heat, hunger, thirst, and fear are your major enemies in emergency
survival situations.
To
keep your body alive you must react to your body's problem indicators and
defend yourself against the major enemies of survival. Always remember to keep your positive mental attitude. Don't add any
extra burden to yourself by falling into a destructive mental state like
feeling self-pity or hopelessness. Remember the important aspects of your life
and don't let the image fade. Think of being lost as an opportunity to explore
a new area. With the proper attitude your experience could be interesting.
Enjoy the challenge. You might as well enjoy the outdoors while you're there
and grow stronger as an individual as a product of your survival experience.
Your positive mental attitude will help you combat your survival enemies. Most
people have more than likely experienced loneliness, fatigue, pain, cold/heat, hunger,
thirst, and fear before, but have not had to combat them all at once, and to
the extent that they have been a threat to their lives. Any one or a
combination of them can diminish your self-confidence or reduce your desire to
struggle for life. All of these feelings are perfectly normal but are more
severe and dangerous in wilderness survival situations. By learning to identify
them you will be able to control them instead of letting them control you.
Loneliness
is a survival enemy that can hit you without warning. It will strike you when you realize you are the only person around
who you can depend on while in your situation. Nowadays modern society barely
gives us a chance to test our ability to adapt to silence, loss of support, and
separation from others. Don't let loneliness gnaw at your positive attitude.
Fight it by keeping busy by singing, whistling, daydreaming, gathering food, or
doing anything else that will take your mind off the fact that you are alone.
Also while in your survival situation, boredom or lack of interest might strike
you. It must be cured to maintain a healthy survival attitude. Once again keep
busy to keep your mind occupied.
Make
sure to avoid fatigue. Fatigue is the overuse of the muscles and the mind
and is a serious threat. It can cause you to lower your defenses and become
less aware and alert to danger. It causes inattention, carelessness, and loss
of judgment and reasoning. Take time to refresh and rest your brain and body.
Conserve your energy. Rest, sleep, and calmness are essential. Pain is natures
signal that something is wrong. When in moments of excitement you may not feel
any pain. Don't let it get the best of you; it can weaken your desire to go on.
Cold
and heat are other enemies of survival. Exposure to the elements
can be very dangerous. Get sheltered as best you can. If cold try and find
shelter and build a fire. If in really hot weather get out of the sun. In the
cold you might find it easier to sleep in the day time and stay awake at night
by a warm fire. In very hot weather you might also want to seek shelter and/or
sleep in the daytime.
Hunger
and thirst are enemies that can really depress your positive mental attitude. Try and find some water. Food can wait. A person can survive for
weeks without food. Try and conserve your body's energy reserves. You may be
better off resting than wandering around aimlessly looking for food. Even if
you find food you may have depleted more energy than the food can supply you
with. If you can acquire food easily then go for it. A man with a full belly
can withstand more survival pressures than a man with an empty belly. Lack of
nutrition could make you more susceptible to depression. Remember your positive
frame of mind and keep your goal to live fresh in your mind.
Fear
is a big enemy to guard against. Fear is a completely
normal reaction for anyone faced with an out of ordinary situation that
threatens his important needs. People fear a lot of things. People have fear of
death, getting lost, animals, suffering, ridicule, and of their own weaknesses.
The thing most feared by people going into the wilderness is getting lost.
There is no way to tell how someone will react to fear. Fear usually depends
entirely on the individual rather than on the situation at hand. Fear could
lead a person to panic or stimulate a greater effort to survive. Fear
negatively influences a man's behavior and reduces his chances for successful
survival. The worst feelings that magnify fear are hopelessness and
helplessness. Don't let the idea of a complete disaster cross your mind. There
is no benefit in trying to avoid fear by denying the existence of a dangerous
survival situation. You need to accept that fear is a natural reaction to a
hazardous situation and try to make the best of your predicament.
Do
your very best to control your fears. Be realistic. Don't
let your imagination make mountains out of mole hills. Expect fear and learn to
recognize it. Live with fear and understand how it can alter your effectiveness
in survival situations. Don't be ashamed of any fears you may have. Control
fear, don't let it control you. Fears can be lessened by keeping the body busy
and free from thirst, hunger, pain, discomfort, and any other enemies to
survival. Learning basic outdoor and first aid skills may help you prevent or
ease fears by increasing your confidence in yourself. If fear creeps up on you
make sure to think of positive things. Maintain your positive mental attitude.
A
more dangerous enemy than fear is panic. Panic is an
uncontrolled urge to run or hurry from the situation. Panic is triggered by the
mind and imagination under stress. It results from fear of the unknown, lack of
confidence, not knowing what to do next, and a vivid imagination. Fear can
build up to panic and cause a person to make a bad situation worse. In a panic
a person's rational thinking disappears and can produce a situation that
results in tragedy. A panic state could lead to exhaustion, injury, or death. A
positive mental attitude is still the best remedy. To combat fear and panic
keep your cool, relax, see the brighter side of things, and stay in control.
Keep up your positive self-talk and remember your goal of survival.
Keeping
a positive mental outlook is for certain the most important aspect of survival. While in a survival situation you will practice self-reliance. You
will only be able to depend on yourself and your abilities. You will have to
overcome many challenges that you are not accustomed to. Modern society is
conditioned to instant relief from discomforts such as darkness, hunger, pain,
thirst, boredom, cold, and heat. Adapt yourself and tolerate it, it's only
temporary. When you first realize that you're in a survival situation stop and
regain your composure. Control your fears. Recognize dangers to your life.
Relax and think; don't make any hasty judgments. Observe the resources around
you. Analyze your situation and plan a course of action only after considering
all of the aspects of your predicament. Be sure to keep cool and collected. It
is important to make the right decision at all times. Set your goal of survival
and always keep it fresh in your mind. Never give up. Prepare for the worst but
hope for the best.