Survival

Survival, I have been asked many times by people. How do you survive in the wilderness with nothing more than your bow , knife and a few limited survival tools? The answer is always the same for me, the tools and weapons I take along are comforts to me. The weapons are for defense and for hunting prey while in the high lands. But for me survival is what I do every day of my life, LIVING is what I do when in the wild places. When I am immersed into the wilderness, my mind , body, and spirit are blended together in a way that only the natural world can bring about. I do not work at living each day I just do it , someday the mountains or the predators living among the last wild country may take me from this world. But I will not dwell on the idea of some possible tragedy befalling me while engaged in the natural worlds game of chance. I am more aware and in tune to my surroundings while walking the trails among dark forests and alpine meadows than I ever will be while driving my pickup down the road or while immersed in the ways of this modern world.
For me survival is more of an instinct we all have engrained in our psyche, rather than a physical action to any situation. In order to survive we as humans must do one important thing, we need to want to! To give up on any situation while in the wilds can and will eventually be the downfall of any adventurer who enters into the natural world. For example if you are faced with the decision to ford a rushing river in order to get back to the safety of civilization, some would decide to rush headlong into the water , some would make it some would perish in the current, but the true survivor would make the decision to survive no matter what the wilderness required of him or her. Even if survival meant spending days alone , building natural shelter, hunting with primitive weapons, and living until help comes to you. Your decisions could mean the difference between life and death, while in a survival situation. Even the most educated , tried and true survivalists have fallen prey to the wilds because of their decisions at the moment where it really mattered. I have spent months at a time in the wilds alone and without modern convenience, only to make some stupid choice that could have cost me my life. Fortunately for me I have lived through many trials out there and have been fortunate to live to tell the tails and learn from my mistakes. No matter what you do , or where you go in the wild places keep your head about you , and stay tuned in to the natural world and all the signs she gives you pass through and I assure you the experience will stay with you long after the scent of the earth has left your senses… Hawk