Why Some People Survive Disasters And Others Do Not
You might think it’s ingenious preparation. It’s not.
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Timeless insights and impulses on how the power of slow in a rushed world makes your life and work better.
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INSIGHT
Why Some People Survive Disasters And Others Do Not
You might think it’s ingenious preparation. It’s not.
Do you consider yourself a survivor?
You want to be prepared when sh*t hits the fan, wherever it may happen on planet Earth, in your region, or your office.
We take care of data, processes, techniques, tools, and science to have some preparation. We believe that this is the best way to handle catastrophic situations. And, of course, this is part of it, we shouldn’t be naïve and ignore that.
But there is another very important aspect many of us neglect.
Equally important, we need to build a sense of security within ourselves and with the people with whom we live and work so that we can navigate more flexibly and comfortably through unexpected situations.
We must start with ourselves to be better prepared.
Are your mind and attitude ready for such unexpected situations?
Consider the following 3 different kinds of perspectives or “philosophies” on the subject of dealing with critical or disastrous situations.
And how all these perspectives lead you to the same solution.
1. It’s The Heart, Stupid!
For more than 40 years, the author and speaker Laurence Gonzales has studied why some people survive accidents and disasters and others do not.
He summarizes his findings from researching accident reports, conversations with survivors, and modern scientific research as follows:
"The crazy thing for most of us with a Western scientific mindset is that it's not the tools, the technology, or the knowledge we have in our baggage that separates the survivors from the non-survivors. It's not even what's in our minds. As corny as it sounds, it's what's in our heart.”
In other words, it’s your attitude.
2. Talking To The Stoics
For the Stoics, it’s all about the mind, the planning, and being aware of what you can control and what not.
"It is not events that disturb people, it is their judgments concerning them." – Epictetus.
What happens to you is never directly under your control, but your thoughts and actions are. Hence, it's not events that upset you but instead your opinion about the events. That is how Marcus Aurelius describes it.
And let’s make one thing clear. Accepting circumstances outside of your control does NOT mean being passive. Because you are always in control of something crucial. Yourself.
3. The Role of Mental and Inner Strength in Far Eastern Philosophies
In the Far Eastern philosophies, serenity and confidence play an important role in dealing with oneself and the challenges we face. Constantly working on our self-confidence helps us to build trust in our abilities and to face with self-awareness and strength whatever comes our way.
In the Japanese martial art of Kyudo, Japanese archery, it says that “experience and depth of character are the sources of a strong spirit".
It is a lifelong, never-ending process to build one's mental strength and composure and even Kyudo masters at an old age never stop working to develop and refine them.
Bringing It All Together: Serenity Is Your Best Tool
If we bring all three perspectives and belief systems together - the heart, the mind, and the calm, composed awareness - we can focus on this one key essence: Serenity.
Serenity is an attitude that leads to thinking clearly and maintaining a deep inner calm.
A serene person knows their self, their strengths and weaknesses, and their values and attitude towards life. This helps them significantly to feel safer and stronger when confronting challenging situations.
From a calm position, you perceive problems accurately, undistorted by strong emotions.
Conclusion
Always remember: the foundation of this inner calm, this sense of confidence in one’s ability to confront and overcome any obstacle, any challenge, is always proven professional competence, developed over time through hard, critical work. It is a process which, for successful people, never really ends.
If you like to know more details -- read the whole article here >>>
IMPULSE
Curated stories on the topic of slowing down and stressing less, designed to open up new ways of looking at why you should give yourself permission to un-rush.
To See What Is Not There, What Could Be There, What Has To Be There
„It is hard enough to see what is already there, to gain a clear view. Steve’s gift was greater still: he saw clearly what was not there, what could be there, what had to be there. His mind was never a captive of reality. Quite the contrary: he imagined what reality lacked and set out to remedy it. His ideas were not arguments, but intuitions, born of a true inner freedom and an epic sense of possibility.“ Laurene Powell Jobs about Steve Jobs » » »
Do You Stress About Your Age?
Isn’t combining your life-experience with your feeling of being young and energetic a great way to look at age?
This is how I feel: I feel physically, mentally, energy-wise, idea-wise younger than the number on the paper....
Can you relate?
In her podcast (Wiser Than Me), Comedian Julia Louis-Dreyfus asks her guests how old they feel and in this episode she pinpoints herself as “about 30, in terms of my energy, my ambition”
“I recognize that I’ve gotten older and it is a very strange thing,” Louis-Dreyfus says. “There are moments where, if a video comes up of me 30 years ago, I’m like: holy crap, I really have gotten older. But I still feel physically that I am the same person, except I have more experience now. So, I don’t think of aging as a negative – I’m actually delighted to be the age I am. I know so much more now than I did 30 years ago. There’s something freeing about it.”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ perspective is pretty cool, helpful and encouraging. Just embrace the fact that you are still young in terms of your energy, enthusiasm, even physically being on top of it and combine this with your years of experience and life wisdom!
Keeping that in mind, ageing doesn’t look that bad after all. » » »