Extreme Resilience
What makes a difference in determining whether someone succumbs to a threat or survives? Who lives and who dies? A recent analysis of "deep survival" examined the attitudes and behaviors exhibited by individuals caught in life and death situations in a range of adverse environments. (Gonzales: 2003) The study revealed 12 lessons for prevailing against extreme odds. Such conditions can produce what could be termed "extreme resilience", the ability to think and behave successfully in the clutch of mortal danger.
1. Perceive, believe (look, see, believe). Extreme survivors rapidly grasp the reality of their situation and acknowledge that everything good or bad emanates from within. Their life is ultimately in their grasp. They move quickly through denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance very quickly.
2. Stay calm (use humor, use fear to focus). Survivors use fear, turn it into anger, and it motivates them. They understand at a deep level about being cool and are ever on guard against the mutiny of too much emotion. They keep their sense of humor and keep calm.
3. Think/analyze/plan. Survivors quickly organize, set up routines, and institute discipline. They push away thoughts that their situation is hopeless. They act with the expectation of success.
4. Take correct, decisive action. Survivors are able to transform thought into action: take risks to save themselves and others and break down large jobs into small, manageable tasks.
5. Celebrate your successes (take joy in completing tasks). Survivors take great joy from even the smallest successes. Important to sustain motivation, this attitude also prevents the descent into hopelessness.
6. Count your successes (take joy in completing tasks). This is how survivors become rescuers instead of victims. There is always someone else they are helping more than themselves, even if that someone is not present.
7. Play (wing, play mind games, recite poetry, count anything). Using deeper powers of intellect can help to stimulate, calm, and entertain the mind. It can also lead to a novel solution to the problem at hand.
8. See the beauty (remember: it's a vision quest). The appreciation of beauty can relieve stress and create strong motivations, as well as help to take in new information more effectively.
9. Believe that you will succeed (develop a deep conviction that you will live.) Survivors consolidate their personalities and fix their determination; they admonish themselves to make no more mistakes, to be very careful and to do their very best. They become convinced that they will prevail if they do these things.
10. Surrender (let go of your fear of dying). Survivors manage pain well. They practise resignation without giving up. It is survival by surrender.
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