Ultimate Survival Challenge...

What would be the ultimate survival challenge for you?  Many times we think of going hand to hand with nature, matching our wits, our skills and our gear (or lack of it!) against weather and any odds we might face.  It is exciting for many outdoors-men and outdoors-women, to pare down a pack to just the essentials or use a belt pouch or haversack with minimal gear and try to “go it alone” in a wilderness area.

Today, YouTube is filled with the exploits and adventures of various, wayfaring wanderers seeking to fulfill the challenge of successfully negotiating the twists, turns and curve balls that nature throws at you when you are away from home and permanent shelter.  For these intrepid adventurers, the wilderness brings with it an air of excitement that cannot be matched by the tepid, stale, air-conditioned or heated boxes that we live in, work in or drive in.  They are tired of the sameness, the tameness, the unrelenting pursuit of the ordinary.  They are looking for the fresh exhilarating air of distant, unexplored (by them) areas of forest, mountain, desert or valley.  To lean on a hiking staff and let their eyes drink in the landscape, quenching their inner thirst for the natural, glad to leave behind the artificial, plastic, virtual world that so many inhabit.

To face heat, cold, wind and wet with calmness and a plan to improvise, adapt and overcome is the strategy, and when they finally drag their happily exhausted bodies back to their vehicle and begin the drive home, there is a freshness in their spirit that is hard to describe to the uninitiated.  But to those who have shared these experiences, there is a knowing nod and an understanding that goes beyond the physical.  Indeed, the wilderness is can be a deeply spiritual experience.

Many of the great men of the Bible went into the wilderness to refresh and to get alone with their Creator.  For those who know the Scriptural narrative, God planted a garden and created the first man and woman to live there.  Our first home was the natural environment.  I don’t know if there is such a thing as genetic memory, but it seems like some of us remember Eden and all the things we lost on that tragic day.  And so every once in a while, our heart gets hungry for home and so we head out into the wilderness.  Many do not feel this urge and may at times look at the outdoors person with a quizzical look on their face.  They may even say that you are crazy to want to go outside and camp, or practice your survival and bushcraft skills in such a weather.  But those who know what awaits them in the great outdoors, will not be easily deterred by the naysayers.

So, pack your kit and make your plan.  Escape the rat-race of modern civilization and head into God’s wilderness.  Find solace in His natural world, let His love and creative splendor thrill your soul.  Then when it comes time to go back to the world of men, responsibilities and drudgery, you will have a deep, spiritual well of memories to draw upon that will hopefully last you until your next great adventure!  And remember, the ultimate survival challenge is not to live a sustainable life in a wilderness area for an extended period of time, it is to survive whatever this world and Satan can throw at you and make it through to Heaven!

Scroll down and like and share below.  Help me get the Word out!  Thanks!

PS.  Friend us at our Facebook Page – WayPoint Survival.  Check out our videos on YouTube at WayPoint Survival.  Make sure to click the subscribe button so you can help us get more viewers. You can also check out my other websites where you sign up for training in many of these skills at www.waypointsurvival.com and look at and order my custom knives at www.benderknifeworks.com.

James B