Your mind is an amazing thing. You can do innumerable things with it. It keeps you alive; it powers your imagination and fuels your hopes and your dreams. It remembers everything and it is the greatest computer in the history of the world. It is also one of your biggest enemies when stranded in the wild.
That same imagination that amuses you can terrify you as you begin to think about your chances of getting out alive, of being rescued and what lurks around you in the dark. Stress will wreak havoc on your body and your mind, and your worry over your situation will keep you from eating. You have to have the will to survive in the wild and you have to forge that will in your mind. Are you willing enough to break your arm to save your life? Will you jump that crevasse to get to the other side, even though you may fall to your death? Many great wilderness experts have died having everything they need to survive because they lacked the will to survive.
To master survival in the wild, you need to be able to master your mind.
The Emotions You Will Feel
When you find yourself lost in the wilderness, there are many emotions that you will go through. Knowing these emotions can help you overcome them and get past them. Anyone who fixates on fear or panic while lost will only wear themselves down. You must look your emotions in the face and conquer them.
Panic
When you first become lost, panic will set in. Your heart rate will increase, you will begin to breathe faster and your mind will race. Panic is a double edged sword. Panic can get you moving quickly and help focus your mind on the problem. However, panic can also ignite the "??flight"?? response of our minds, causing you to start racing through the bush hoping that you come back to the trail or road. This works about one percent of the time. Typically, running through the wilderness in a panic only causes you to get more lost and lose your bearings on your location completely. When you feel panic, do the following:
1. Stop
2. Breathe slowly
3. Calm yourself down
4. Look at your situation in a logical manner
5. Make a plan
When you make a plan, you are giving your mind something to focus on and you can alleviate the panic. You will still feel anxiety over the situation, but that will fade as you concentrate on getting rescued.
Fear
Fear is a natural response to the unknown. You did not plan on being lost, you have never been lost before and you fear what the future holds for you. You fear what might be in the bushes and you fear that you will not be rescued. Fear is normal but must be handled appropriately.
Just like you do with panic, stop and begin to focus on surviving. If you can keep yourself busy, you can keep fear from overwhelming your mind. Sadly, this only keeps fear away for some of the time. When night sets in and you are alone in front of a fire, hopefully if you started one, you will have nothing to do but think. What are you going to think about? You are going to think about your current situation. At night, many individuals who spend their lives in the city can become scared. That is okay, there is nothing wrong with being scared. The most important thing you need to do to protect yourself is to think rationally. Remember that there is nothing out there that is going to hurt you. A good tactic is to remember that the area you are sitting in is the same area you were sitting in when it was daylight and that there is nothing there that wasn"??t there when it was light.
Anger
When you are lost, anger and frustration can be very common. You want to be found, you want to be warm and you want something to eat. When you can"??t get things to work properly to get that, either because a trap didn"??t work or because the fire won"??t start, you may become angry. Anger is a big danger when you are trying to survive (unless you are being attacked). When you are angry, you do not think clearly. If you do not think clearly in the wild, you die. For example, if you are trying to start a fire and you can"??t get anything to light, you may begin to get angry. As you get angrier and angrier, you end up lashing out at whatever is near you. This may involve hitting or kicking a rock or a tree. If you hit it too hard or kick it the wrong way, you could end up with broken bones. Now, in addition to being rescued, you have to deal with being injured. While panic and fear have their place at times, anger does not when you are trying to survive. To deal with anger, follow these steps:
1.Stop what you are doing.
2.Breathe deeply and calmly.
3.Sit down if you have to and feel yourself relax.
4.Plan a different way to deal with what is making you angry or frustrating you.
Depression
One of the worst things for you in the wild is depression. When you begin to get depressed about a situation, it can be hard to motivate yourself to fix the situation. It is odd, but the more depressed you are about being lost, the less likely you will be found. Depression takes the life out of you, both literally and figuratively. It is important that you find ways to keep yourself happy and motivated. Instead of thinking about how you are lost and how scared you are, think about what your first meal is going to be when you are found.
Boredom
Boredom actually leads to depression. The more bored you are, the more you think about the situation you are in and the more likely you are to fall into depression. The one good thing about your situation is that being lost helps to motivate your mind and keep you thinking. You can start problem solving of how to build a shelter and how to catch something to eat. You can think about what your plan is for being rescued, and you can begin using your mind to get rescued. The more you do this, the less bored you will be and the less likely you will start dealing with depression.
Prioritize Your Situation
Probably the best thing you can do when you initially get lost, so that you can conquer your mind and the emotions it will bring you, is to prioritize things. When you prioritize, you create a game plan to focus on. No matter if you begin to panic, become afraid, get angry, or fall into depression, you can use your priorities to focus on and to distract your mind.
1. The first thing you need to do is deal with any immediate problems that may present themselves. If it is getting dark, this means finding a shelter. If you are injured, this means fixing the wound and getting yourself mobile. If it is someone else injured, then your first priority is helping them.
2. The next thing you need to do is get things ready for rescue. If you are lost in the wild, generally you can count on search and rescue looking for you within the next day or so. If you told no one when you were going to be back, which is a big mistake, you could be there for weeks on end. Either way, get a signal ready so that when they do come looking, they can find you.
3. The last thing you need to do is to start making plans for the long-term survival of yourself and anyone with you. This means building shelters, finding food, finding water, ensuring you are warm, ensuring that there is enough food for the fire and such. It also means looking at ways that you can possibly stop being lost and get yourself found.
That same imagination that amuses you can terrify you as you begin to think about your chances of getting out alive, of being rescued and what lurks around you in the dark. Stress will wreak havoc on your body and your mind, and your worry over your situation will keep you from eating. You have to have the will to survive in the wild and you have to forge that will in your mind. Are you willing enough to break your arm to save your life? Will you jump that crevasse to get to the other side, even though you may fall to your death? Many great wilderness experts have died having everything they need to survive because they lacked the will to survive.
To master survival in the wild, you need to be able to master your mind.
The Emotions You Will Feel
When you find yourself lost in the wilderness, there are many emotions that you will go through. Knowing these emotions can help you overcome them and get past them. Anyone who fixates on fear or panic while lost will only wear themselves down. You must look your emotions in the face and conquer them.
Panic
When you first become lost, panic will set in. Your heart rate will increase, you will begin to breathe faster and your mind will race. Panic is a double edged sword. Panic can get you moving quickly and help focus your mind on the problem. However, panic can also ignite the "??flight"?? response of our minds, causing you to start racing through the bush hoping that you come back to the trail or road. This works about one percent of the time. Typically, running through the wilderness in a panic only causes you to get more lost and lose your bearings on your location completely. When you feel panic, do the following:
1. Stop
2. Breathe slowly
3. Calm yourself down
4. Look at your situation in a logical manner
5. Make a plan
When you make a plan, you are giving your mind something to focus on and you can alleviate the panic. You will still feel anxiety over the situation, but that will fade as you concentrate on getting rescued.
Fear
Fear is a natural response to the unknown. You did not plan on being lost, you have never been lost before and you fear what the future holds for you. You fear what might be in the bushes and you fear that you will not be rescued. Fear is normal but must be handled appropriately.
Just like you do with panic, stop and begin to focus on surviving. If you can keep yourself busy, you can keep fear from overwhelming your mind. Sadly, this only keeps fear away for some of the time. When night sets in and you are alone in front of a fire, hopefully if you started one, you will have nothing to do but think. What are you going to think about? You are going to think about your current situation. At night, many individuals who spend their lives in the city can become scared. That is okay, there is nothing wrong with being scared. The most important thing you need to do to protect yourself is to think rationally. Remember that there is nothing out there that is going to hurt you. A good tactic is to remember that the area you are sitting in is the same area you were sitting in when it was daylight and that there is nothing there that wasn"??t there when it was light.
Anger
When you are lost, anger and frustration can be very common. You want to be found, you want to be warm and you want something to eat. When you can"??t get things to work properly to get that, either because a trap didn"??t work or because the fire won"??t start, you may become angry. Anger is a big danger when you are trying to survive (unless you are being attacked). When you are angry, you do not think clearly. If you do not think clearly in the wild, you die. For example, if you are trying to start a fire and you can"??t get anything to light, you may begin to get angry. As you get angrier and angrier, you end up lashing out at whatever is near you. This may involve hitting or kicking a rock or a tree. If you hit it too hard or kick it the wrong way, you could end up with broken bones. Now, in addition to being rescued, you have to deal with being injured. While panic and fear have their place at times, anger does not when you are trying to survive. To deal with anger, follow these steps:
1.Stop what you are doing.
2.Breathe deeply and calmly.
3.Sit down if you have to and feel yourself relax.
4.Plan a different way to deal with what is making you angry or frustrating you.
Depression
One of the worst things for you in the wild is depression. When you begin to get depressed about a situation, it can be hard to motivate yourself to fix the situation. It is odd, but the more depressed you are about being lost, the less likely you will be found. Depression takes the life out of you, both literally and figuratively. It is important that you find ways to keep yourself happy and motivated. Instead of thinking about how you are lost and how scared you are, think about what your first meal is going to be when you are found.
Boredom
Boredom actually leads to depression. The more bored you are, the more you think about the situation you are in and the more likely you are to fall into depression. The one good thing about your situation is that being lost helps to motivate your mind and keep you thinking. You can start problem solving of how to build a shelter and how to catch something to eat. You can think about what your plan is for being rescued, and you can begin using your mind to get rescued. The more you do this, the less bored you will be and the less likely you will start dealing with depression.
Prioritize Your Situation
Probably the best thing you can do when you initially get lost, so that you can conquer your mind and the emotions it will bring you, is to prioritize things. When you prioritize, you create a game plan to focus on. No matter if you begin to panic, become afraid, get angry, or fall into depression, you can use your priorities to focus on and to distract your mind.
1. The first thing you need to do is deal with any immediate problems that may present themselves. If it is getting dark, this means finding a shelter. If you are injured, this means fixing the wound and getting yourself mobile. If it is someone else injured, then your first priority is helping them.
2. The next thing you need to do is get things ready for rescue. If you are lost in the wild, generally you can count on search and rescue looking for you within the next day or so. If you told no one when you were going to be back, which is a big mistake, you could be there for weeks on end. Either way, get a signal ready so that when they do come looking, they can find you.
3. The last thing you need to do is to start making plans for the long-term survival of yourself and anyone with you. This means building shelters, finding food, finding water, ensuring you are warm, ensuring that there is enough food for the fire and such. It also means looking at ways that you can possibly stop being lost and get yourself found.
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