The Attitude of Survival

The attitude of survival is the most important aspect of survival, even more important than the basics such as food and water. Even with every survival skill at you fingertips, you will die in the wilderness if you do not have the mental fortitude and a positive attitude to survive. With the right positive mental attitude you will have the potential to deal with any situation that will come up and emerge a survivor.

Even if you are the most experienced survivalist in the world, the chances of you coming out alive are greatly reduced if you don't have the right mindset. Knowing how to build a fire, build a shelter, get your own food or navigate without a compass or map, will not get you through a survival situation if you don't have the attitude of survival.

There are people that had all this knowledge and more but didn't make it because they didn't have the will to live. Others made it just because they did have it. Having all those skills is very important but they are not the key to survival.

Your mind is your most valuable tool.

In the attitude of survival the mind is a very powerful tool, it controls your thinking, it controls your body and it controls your actions. The attitude of survival is knowing how to use your mind to deal with any situation by giving yourself the will to live. If you don't have the will to live you will not even try to survive, therefore ending up dying. That is why I recommend keeping a picture of a loved one or some type of item to give you that incentive and will to live.

It has been shown that having the will to live is the major contributor to making it out of a wilderness survival situation alive. A powerful will to live will help you in any situation you come up against. Do not lose sight of the fact that having the wrong mindset can be your worst enemy. You must be able to shift your thoughts to a positive mindset and look at things as a challenge not an obstacle. Look forward to the challenge of everything that is going to come your way and you will increase your chances.

Every person who was ever stranded in the wilderness or washed ashore on a distant island who are alive today had this one thing in common.... THEY NEVER GAVE UP.

Let's take a look at stress, which will come into play in a major way. Whether you get lost in the woods in Colorado or too close to a rattler in Texas, it will be present all the time. Fear, anxiety, and depression are a few factors that will contribute to the stress levels of just about every person put into a survival situation. Having the right attitude of survival will help you deal with these situations even though it is a natural human reaction. You must learn how to control these feelings.

All that being said, stress in something that you need. I know, it is against everything that is taught about getting stress out of your life but without it, you would not learn about your strengths and weaknesses. Stress is best described as your reaction to seemingly impossible situations. The benefits can be tremendous if you know how to control it. Once you can control it, it gives you the ability to think things through and find your way out of a difficult situation.

So stress can build you up or tear you down. It can increase your confidence or knock you down to your knees. Your mission is, should you decide to accept it; Learn to manage the stress that comes your way. The survivor is the one that works with stress instead of letting the stress work him or her.

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