18 Oct Desperate Journeys, Abandoned Souls – true stories of castaways and other survivors
A friend of mine in Boise is a veterinarian and although our town is filled with adventurers he is at the top of the list of those who end up on some of the most far flung ones. He recently sent me a book about the downsides of life’s misadventures.
Through these tales you learn of what enables someone to survive under challenging circumstances while others perish. Reading about the psychological challenges of solitude, desperation, and fear of the unknown provide healthy perspective for my situation. Anyone who ends up on a deserted island with no shade and only turtle blood for hydration would gladly trade places with me. In particular, the person in that story, like most who find themselves deserted on an island, had no idea when his trials and tribulations would end.
Imagine getting sent to prison but they don’t tell you how long your sentence will be. One day, you’re simply released but every day in between you wake up not knowing when that day will come. That’s the pressure all of these sea faring survivors went through and it had to absolutely gnaw away at them.
These stories inspire courage and are also a stark reminder of how fragile human life is. This has been a good ‘before bed’ read as the book is a compilation of short stories that make me appreciate what I have both here and in the scope of the bigger picture. I am still working on gratitude, which I think should never end. The better I get at it the more important I realize it is. It’s almost humorous how challenging it can be for what should be such an easy concept to master. No one on a deserted island gets to read books, so that’s one more thing to add to the gratitude list.