survival is nothing more than recovery

on a cruise, know where your lifeboat station is

Only the very fortunate will not suffer some kind of disaster in their lives.  The very unfortunate may stagger from one disaster to another, with barely enough time and energy to get over one catastrophe before they have to face another.  Some may be forever scarred by one negative experience in their life, while others will survive and thrive no matter what kind of crap the Cosmos throws at them.  One person may never get over a single unhappy love affair, while another will still come out smiling and optimistic after having their heart ripped out by a promiscuous cheating partner.  Some may face ordinary adversity and die, while others will live through the most horrible experiences imaginable.

It’s all a question of attitude and preparedness, the difference between surrender and hope.  You are not who others say you are, you are the sum of your own beliefs.  A man owes very little to what he was born with, a real man makes himself.

Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but for only one second without hope.  ~  Charles Darwin

Disasters come in many forms, but disaster recovery has only one shape.  Be prepared.  Because one thing is almost certain, one day, in some way, most of us will face a disaster; unemployment, being broke, betrayal, divorce, violence, flood, fire, earthquake, terrorism, wildfires, death of a loved one, critical illness….

You might say; ‘how can anyone prepare for all that….’  or, ‘how can you prepare for a disaster if you don’t know what kind of disaster you are going to have to face…..’  That’s defeatism.  People who talk, think, and believe in those ways are less likely to recover well from a disaster than someone who knuckles down and optimistically gets ready to face whatever fate throws at them.

There are just three rules;

1. Do not delude yourself.  If you live in an earthquake zone prepare to survive an earthquake.  If you marry a bastard / slut then prepare to end up broke and on the street.  If you set sail on uncharted oceans prepare to get dis-masted and lost.  If you leave a contractor alone in your home expect it to be wrecked when you return.
2. Be as fit and healthy as you can possibly be in body, mind, spirit, finances, and ‘stuff’.  Work at it.
3. Learn things.  Read books such as How To Stay Alive by Bear Grylls.  Go to night school to learn car mechanics.  Learn about camping.  Learn how to grow your own food.  Be curious, stop wasting your most valuable commodity; time.

There is a thing called Disaster Shock, and it will kill you ~ the more prepared you are the less likely you will suffer from this and die.

~

jack collier

jackcollier7@talktalk.net

have your important stuff easily to hand, so you can drive away from a wildfire within minutes