Watery Survival
Surviving quicksand or deep water requires strategy. Oddly, they both have a base of water but the quicksand has that pesky loose addition of sand that gets angry when agitated. Movies have immortalized quicksand as the type of danger that gets worse when you struggle. It sounds a lot like modern day life. Sometimes it seems like the harder you fight against issues, the harder they are to let you go. Deep water requires a lot of treading to find the right direction to shore.
Survival Tactics
The first thing to do when you are in a pickle is to determine what type of struggle you are dealing with. In a deep water scenario, if you just need to continue to tread more and watch and wait, then you know you will survive. You may find a way to float on your back a little when the tides rise to save your energy. If the water gets choppy, you may need to add some arm movements to keep your chin above the waterline. You may experience extreme fatigue and feel like you just can’t go on. But a good brisk wind might move the current along and let you make out some land on the horizon. At that point, your legs will feel motivated to keep you upright.
Holding On
If the dilemma feels like quicksand, it starts with a surprise. We can’t see ordinary quicksand as we walk about the jungle of life. It looks just like an innocent puddle of sandy soil. By the time we realize we have fallen into it, we are swallowed up and have begun to fight against the enveloping mixture. We are deeper than we want to be and have to change tactics quickly to find a way out. When struggling doesn’t help us escape our problems, we have to abandon our natural survival methods and tread the quicksand slowly. Decreasing movement is not our normal way to solve scientific experiments. But nature has provided a built-in helper. Our problems and the viscosity of quicksand are not the same and when the panicked actions stop, the sinking stops. The hazard allows for some stability if the fighting ends and we realize that we are not going to be swallowed whole.
Survivors
The faster we can recognize the nature of the surprise issue we are railing against, the sooner we can respond appropriately. While treading along or waiting in the buoyancy of the puddle, we have time to think. And possibly rethink. Science provides us with a chance to determine what actions would serve the situation best. It may be best not to rush in like a first responder to each and every little hiccup that bubbles up. We survive best when we work with nature. We survive when we know when to act.
Is it possible to be patient enough to look at an issue before just rushing to solve it? If nothing is imminently threatening anyone, is there anything to learn from the trouble? Are you strong enough not to respond?
