The Will To Survive Is As Important As Any Emergency Preparedness

Emergency preparedness is not the only thing, which will help you survive through a disaster, crises or a calamity. Your survival, as well as your family’s survival, relies not only on your emergency plan but also on your ability to think clear during the situation. Your brain and mentality will be your best tool in your fight to survive.

There are a lot books, guides, and websites that provide information on how you can start planning and preparing for emergency situations. There are a lot of survival information and education available in our fingertips. There is no question that we should learn about them. However, preparedness is nothing compared with our state of mind.

We have possibly heard stories about people, prepared or not, with or without survival skill knowledge, who were able to withstand challenges because of their undeniable will to survive.

How Much Do You Want to Live?

Tressel Hawkins, Curtis Hall and Hames Phillips decided to take a 23-foot catamaran to Matagorda Bay, Texas for a sports-fishing trip. They woke-up in the middle of the night in knee-deep water when their pump failed. The catamaran capsized before they were able to make their distress call.

The three men lasted eight days on the sea, on the top of the catamarans hull, exposed to the sun, with minimal food and water. They were only able to salvage two bags of chips, Double-mint gum, crackers and 2 gallons of water contaminated with gasoline when the boat turned-over. They were able to find submerged 30-gallon wash-down tank. The water, which was used to hose-off fish slime, was uncontaminated and were able to save their lives.

The three supported each other during the entire ordeal. They were moments when they would freak out, start hallucinating, but they provided strength to each otherís weaknesses until they were found on their eight day by another fisherman.

These three men were fortunate, they have each other. How far would you go to survive if you don’t have anyone with you?

In 2003, Aron Ralston was pinned for four days when a 200 pound boulder fell on him while climbing the Canyon lands National Park. When his water ran out, he knew that he would have to do something to get out of his situation. He cut the pinned arm from below the elbow with a pocketknife. He wrapped it with a bandage and climbed down to the canyons floor. It was the same for Bill Jeracki, when he decided to amputate his own leg when he was trapped by a boulder in the Colorado Rockies in 1993.

The Mental Game

An emergency can happen, anywhere, anytime and to anyone. Whether you are prepared for it or not, it can all boil down to how much you want to survive. Survival is a mental game. It would depend on your body and minds ability to survive the stress of emergency situations.

Strong determination to live is one to proper attitude. You need to have a power desire and will to live. Our commitment to survive another day can drive our body, actions and reasoning to increased chances of living. A person needs to have a positive attitude to motivate the body.

A person will definitely encounter numerous obstacles, but having the right attitude and mental state will help you think clearly to overcome these obstacles. Feeling of loneliness, helplessness, and fear in survival situation are normal. However, don’t let these feelings drag you. You have to control them instead of your emotions controlling you.

Panic is another thing that we have to guard against during emergency situations. Panicking can lead to exhaustion, serious injury and sometimes death. A person needs to relax and remain calm in order to think clearly. Panic stems out of the feeling not knowing and helplessness. Which is why we need to prepare or arm ourselves with survival information and knowledge to avoid panic ruling our lives.