Sharpening Your Survival Mentality for Free

Many survival experts have long said that being able to survive against all or extreme odds has to do with your mental state. Keeping a positive, strong and calm mental state during an emergency and just following a disaster can mean the difference between life and death. Normal emotions are bound to manifest themselves out of pure human reaction. However, once those initial feelings pass, you must regain your mental state of "What can I do with what I have around me to survive?"

Situational Differences
All survival situations are different. The most important things in a survival situation said by the famous Bear Grylls from "Man vs. Wild" on the Discovery channel is "Protection, Rescue, Water, Food." These things can be memorized by the following acronym: "Please Remember What's First." Each situation will be different in terms of what must be secured NOW. Sometimes that will be protection from the elements and if there's no time to signal for rescue before night falls, then you must secure more protection and then water. Work on rescue first thing in the morning. Protection involves shelter and safety, rescue involves signal fires, reflective items or using brightly colored objects to get attention from the air, while water and food are self explanatory.

Talk to Yourself
Speak positively to yourself and to others while you still have the mental capacity to think straight. Make the majority of your major decisions before fatigue, hunger and thirst set in. For example, "You've read a lot about survival. You've watched survival shows. You may not remember anything right this second, but you will because your subconscious remembers everything." That can be enough start the conscious part of your brain to actively remember what you should do first. "Does anyone need first aid? Where are we? Do we stay or do we go?" Know that a positive mental state can help give you an edge.

Be Realistic
Prepare yourself mentally before hand to understand that in a survival situation, there may be death, destruction, traumatic scenarios taking place and that you will be pushed out of your comfort zone. Spend some time thinking about what that might entail depending on where you're at in the country. It's not necessary to play the scenarios out in your mind until you feel "freaked out." Take the moment after you feel "freaked out" by rewinding the tape you just played in your mind and look at as a person watching an instant replay. Notice details in the picture and think of things you could do differently if faced with that type of situation. Remember, right now its just a picture that you control in your mind!

Practice What You Can Now
Are you in shape? Can you hike for 2 miles and relatively be in good health? Could you do that if you were feeling under the weather? Can you run and if so how fast for how long? Talk to your doctor about different types of exercise programs you can do that will help build your endurance and strengthen your overall body tone. Be aware of your social and economic happenings both locally and in the world. Understand that social unrest can happen at any time for a variety of reasons. Are you stocked up 3 or more days for each member of your household with food, water and medical supplies? If you aren't naturally observant, start purposely scanning your surroundings each time you exit a building. Look around you 180 degrees as you walk to a destination. Notice the types of vehicles around you, where people are standing and how they are standing. Make these things a habit.

These things may sound simplistic and unimportant, however one day it can give you the edge you need to survive just long enough that you can make it to help.