For most people in survival situations, fear strikes in the middle of
the night, when complete darkness has fallen and the area around you is
filled with strange, discomforting sounds. One of the little tricks I’ve come
up with to minimize my fear is to prepare for it.
In the few hours before dusk, I take time to scan my surroundings,
imagining what they will look like once darkness falls. Later that night, I
realize, “I’m in the exact same spot with the exact same surroundings, only
they’re dark.” It may sound like a simplistic solution, but it works for me,
and I’m in the dark a lot out there!
The key is not to let fear and anxiety take control of you. Acknowl
edge your fear and anxiety—and the normalcy of your reaction—but stop
there. Don’t give in to them. Recognize that with every effort you make
toward your own survival, your fear and anxiety will diminish. Bravery and
courage are based not on fearlessness but on healthy fear.
Anger and Frustration
I am fortunate in that I do not get terribly frightened in survival situations,
but I can’t claim I don’t feel my share of anger and frustration. These emo
tions almost always come from the awareness that I’ve made mistakes or
haven’t anticipated events. When I feel anger or frustration coming on, I
remind myself to back off and reassess, because there is always another
answer.
The danger in succumbing to anger is that it makes you lash out.
You take your anger out by breaking a branch against a tree when you
should be dealing with your immediate survival needs. Not only will you
waste time by lashing out, you’ll waste valuable energy and perhaps sus
tain an injury as well. Frustration and anger tend to result in impulsive
reactions, irrational behavior, and poorly thoughtout decisions. In some
cases, these emotions might even cause you to throw up your hands and
declare, “I quit!”
To deal with these feelings, take the same tack as with most of the
other emotions we’re discussing here: stop, calm down, and dedicate your
physical and emotional energy to formulating a plan for getting yourself
out of the emergency.
Having said that, for some, there is a benefit that can be derived
from anger, assuming that they can keep their anger level at a minimal,
(^48) | Survive!