The Darkest Hour

The darkest hour is not a time of day. It is a matter of
perspective. We all have our own dark hours in our lives.
These dark hours are the times when we look at our lives
and feel all is lost. Hope is what keeps these times at
bay. Hope for a brighter tomorrow or a second chance.

Hope is the one thing you should always keep with you. Without
hope there is no life. There is an old maxim among survivalist;
The rule of threes. It states you can't live three seconds without
thinking, three minutes without breathing, three hours without
shelter, three days without water, three weeks without food, and
three months without hope.

No matter how well trained you are, no matter how much equipment
you have at your disposal, if you give up you die. Every situation
is different but all have that common thread. Take the time to
fully access the situation and look at all possible outcomes. It
is all too easy to let yourself become fixated on the worst case
scenario. I am not saying that you should purposely ignore the
worst case, what I am saying is that if you focus on the worst
outcome, you can do yourself more harm than thirst, hunger, injury,
or exposure can by leaving yourself open to unneeded mental anguish.

It is easy to take this attitude when sitting in comfort and safety
at home. You don't have to deal with listening to your stomach
growling while you are hunting, fishing, or foraging for something
to eat. Or think your tongue is three sizes too big because you
are out of water and really want a drink. That is why they call it
survival. You may be saying to yourself, Well, gee, that was real
encouraging! It wasn't meant to be encouraging, it was meant to
make you stop and consider what gives you hope in better circumstances.

So ask yourself, What gives me hope in my day to day life? A better
job, seeing your children succeed in their own lives, seeing a
wrong righted? These are the things you should focus on when it
looks like everything has gone straight to Hell. They can act as a
distraction from whatever a situation has thrown at you. I recall
reading a story once about a man that had found himself in the
middle of the desert with minimal supplies and little water. He
managed to walk out of the desert not because he was a Rambo-esque
survivalist. He walked out of the desert because at the time he
was going through a rather nasty divorce and told himself quite
firmly that he'd be damned if he was going to die there and let
his soon to be Ex get everything without a fight!

Whether it's happy thoughts that give you hope or something that
makes you want to eat barbed wire and spit thumb tacks that gives
you hope, use it. The ultimate rule to surviving is never give up
and never let yourself lose hope.