Introduction to survival

In your daily life there are several different meanings for the word survival. Often it means you're living through a difficult period, either physically or mentally. Another meaning is found in "survival of the fittest". Here it means that the best or the ablest ultimately wins or comes out of the fight alive. The meaning that we will use here on Shards of Survival is a little different. Survival is the art (and often craft) to cope with adverse, often emergency, situations on you own strength and wits.

So, survival is an art. The trouble with art is that everyone has his own opinions on it. An advantage is that everyone, in his own way, can create art. This interpretation of survival seems misty and vague but it will soon be clear that it has its advantages.

There are two major survival or emergency situations: the physical and the mental emergency. The former is used for situations where you must stay alive in the wild outdoors, for instance, or where you must solve a difficult task that poses major risks. The latter is, for example, when you try to cope with a depression or try to force yourself into a positive attitude. Mental emergencies are much harder to tackle than physical emergencies. They often require professional help from a psychiatrist, psycologist or sociologist. These professionals are trained to help you climb out of the darkness of your mind.

Here on Shards of Survival we'll mainly focus on the physical side of survival. This has the advantages that everyone in his own way can learn something and that we lay a foundation from where mental problems have less chance of developing. Mensa sana in corpore sano, or "a healthy mind in a healthy body". Shards of Survival will not just focus on real emergencies but mostly and more specifically with accidental setbacks during holidays, day trips, while out camping, hiking or cycling. That is, those little accidents that can ruin your perfect day.


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