Same Training. Same Conditions. You Live He Dies. Why?

In severe survival condition, your friend dies and you survive while waiting to be rescue, why you and not him?

Same Training. Same conditions. You live he dies. Why?

This Instructables is not about building an object but about keeping you alive longer.

You and your friend just survived an accident and are waiting to be rescued in harsh weather and inadequate equipment.

Both have the same training, equipment, clothing and food.

You made it thru he does not survived, why?

What is that something that keep you anchored to this world?

Note: This knowledge can apply to any kind of crisis.

• Snow mobile broke, capsizes boat, lost in the wood...
• Or it can happen in the more mundane civilized world as a personal crisis (e.g. need to work beyond your breaking point to feed your family, etc.)

Special elite forces know that concept. This is the reason for the crazy training with sleep deprivation in harsh condition (freezing mud, freezing water, extreme cold, extreme heat) and exhausting tasks. They seek the ones with the strongest anchor that relate to their goals. For them, it is to protect the country.

Everyone have that something (that anchors) to various degrees. It is different for every individual and change thru life.

For the regular people who have not been thru Special Forces.

How can I get that anchor when I need it the most?

For some, it is their wife, kids, parents, memories of a lost one for which they will endure anything for them.

It could be their four legged sweet confident (with or without fur).

For others, hope for the future.

The anchor is different for everyone.

Note: The inverse is true too. It was reported that a dog died while covering the family baby with his body during a fire. (ABC13 news, Friday, August 19, 2016 06:38AM, "Dog dies after protecting baby from fire", Update: The news has been deleted since I wrote this text.)

There is no wrong answer. It is possible to have more than one anchor.

The anchor and his strength vary with time. The anchor of today may not be the same tomorrow.

An old study made in war time reported that shipwreck sailors which have a picture of their love ones with them had a higher rate of survival than the one who did not have one. (Sharks not taken into account.)

(Sorry, read the text years ago when I was young and I did not keep any reference about it.)

If you know any war veteran that went to the battle front, ask them about their anchor.

What kind of anchor can you use?

Anything that remind you why you want to live and come back home tonight.

It could be memories of a lost one, the first gift ever from your son or your daughter (an old rusty bolt found on the street), a picture, an old dried out flower, a pinch of sand where you met your wife, a paw print of your furry friend, a reminder of hope for the future.

Where you can keep your anchor:

• Stored in your pocket (Laminate picture for safe keeping),
• Hidden inside the battery section of your cell phone (not dependant of the life of your battery),
• Hang on a key ring,
• Inside of a locket on a necklace,

(For men and women, it is a sign of love to keep something on you that say "I love you" to the one you love.)

• In the cover of a pocket watch (they where wiser than us in the old time),
• For others it can be a tattoo.

Any method is good as long as the anchor stays with you when the ship goes down, bale out of the house in fire, try to survived trap in your upside down car hidden in the middle of the ditch between the tall grass.

When Hell break loose, with your hand touch or just feel your anchor on you.

(No need to open or to take it out of your pocket).

To remind you why you want to come home tonight.

To give you a reason to fight, not only for you but for them too.

I write this in hope you will never need it.

If you do, may you come back at home tonight to be with your love ones.

Credential:

This subject has been field tested, in the field and normal life situation where I had to push over to the limit.

Been there done that. One way in, no other way out.

You can read this, because I am still here to write about it.