The Author, Den Bradshaw in the jungles of Costa Rica
That’s a great question. In today’s cushy modern world, it seems like concerns of survival are a thing of the past… or are they?
46 people are murdered every day in the U.S… Over half a million people drown each year. 115 people die from car crashes every day. 2% of the U.S. population are bitten by dogs each year, and on average 30 die at the paws of “man’s best friend”.
Perhaps it’s not the wild west out there, but survival is still something you have to consider seriously… And on a daily basis.
Across all of my life experiences, I’ve had a variety of ‘near death’ experiences… and I’ve also saved a few lives in the process. And in these experiences, I’ve seen a trend, and it’s a trend that I have heard and read and experienced over and over:
In a life-or-death scenario, the people who survive are the people who have already thought about what they would do in that situation.
This is universally true… If you’ve already planned what you’ll do in a survival situation, when the moment happens you won’t go “deer in the headlights”. And that’s exactly what most people do when they are confronted with a stressful, adrenaline, panic-inducing experience:
You FREEZE.
Your brain suddenly is faced with the impossible task of trying to be logical and calculate the optimal reaction to an incredibly stressful situation… All in the blink of an eye.
To make matters worse, numerous studies have clearly shown that, when emotions are running high, humans are terrible decision makers… Objectivity goes out the window, and we are easily paralyzed by too many options.
In modern life, a survival situation isn’t just being attacked by a shark (yes, I’ve dove with those too… And will tell you what the ‘shark masters’ taught me in the Bahamas). Modern life has other ‘survival’ situations for guys that can be equally as important… Like how to approach a woman you’re interested in, how to grill a steak, or how to project confidence in any situation, even when you’re completely uncomfortable or scared.
While we are potentially confronted with ‘survival situations’ on a daily basis, the education most guys receive comes from mothers and school-teachers, television and a lot of guess-work. Gone are the days of fathers teaching their sons what it is to be a man… how to hunt, to kill, to defend the family, build shelter, and generally be a man. That job has been handed over to the school system, cable TV and the Internet. A majority of parents have gone from being educators and mentors to simply being life-support… and guys are left to fend for themselves…
Or worse, they grow up with no knowledge of what it is to be a man… Like a persian cat, fluffy and fat with it’s claws neatly trimmed… who has no idea where its food comes from, or how to fend for itself…
Perhaps you’ve come to my site because you’ve found yourself to be that fat fluffy persian cat, stuck up a tree with no idea how to get down. Or perhaps you’re already well on your journey to being a true survivor.
Wherever you are in your path, I’m here with you. I’m walking it with you, and I will do my best to share with you what I’ve pieced together, in the hopes that we will both survive and thrive.
