Overcome or be overcome by it

I remember a Thanksgiving long ago when our power went out just as the meal preparations were completed.  How lovely that Thanksgiving meal by candlelight seemed!  Then we waited for the power to come back on.  What started out as an adventure (cooking with an iron skillet in the fireplace, "camping" at night in our sleeping bags by the fire) became a long, agonizing wait for hot water, hot food, and clean clothes.  This event became known in the Pacific Northwest as The Thanksgiving Day Storm of 1983.  There are many of us who have memories of weather events turning family gatherings into marathons of perseverance against the elements.  These become epic tales passed down from generation to generation, often growing more fantastic with each new telling. 
After witnessing (from a safe distance through the magic of television) the havoc of "frankenstorm" Sandy, I started to think about preparing for disaster season in Wisconsin, commonly known as WINTER.  Most people throughout our fair land have certain tasks, like cleaning the rain gutters or washing the windows, that they schedule according to the time of year.  Growing up in the mild climate of the Pacific Northwest, I was not taught to pack sweaters or shorts away because one might need a sweater in June and a pair of shorts in December.  We used the same jacket all year round, generally a windbreaker with a hood, unless we were taking a day trip into the mountains for skiing or tubing.  Lately, it has occurred to me that perhaps it was time to think beyond mere winter preparation chores.  In a world of "here and now" not tomorrow, shouldn't we consider that help might not be immediately around the corner?
We may not end up on a desert island like Robinson Crusoe, or Tom Hanks but we could get stranded in our car.  Nor would any of us wish to end up on a remote mountaintop like the survivors of the Andes plane crash or in the middle of the Atlantic ocean at night like the ill-fated passengers of the Titanic.  Certainly in this day and age, we would never allow children to walk miles home during precarious or inclement weather.  How many of us would have the courage of Aaron Ralston to sacrifice a limb to save their own life when faced with a desperate choice?
Are these adventure stories or acts of desperation?  That's not always easy to determine.  Every reader experiences a book and its contents differently.  While one person may admire the will to survive, another may focus on the appalling actions taken by the characters or author to ensure survival. Life and our reaction to it is unpredictable.  None of us can accurately determine how we will behave when faced with a crisis.  Will we be noble and self-sacrificing, thinking more of others or will we use the weaknesses of those around us to stack the odds of survival in our own favor?  Everyone has a mental image of who they would like to be and how they would wish others to see them.  Unfortunately, it often takes a tragedy (sometimes of immense proportions) to bring out our brave and noble characteristics.  All to often we find that we are not be the person we had hoped to be but that  
doesn't mean we should give up. 

Books about survival against the odds honor the indomitable human spirit.  They are about the "yes we can" attitude that is instilled into the genetic make-up of human beings.  These are the people who defy their own instincts to take care of themselves and instead take care of others without hesitation.  We don't know what may be around the corner or how we will handle it.  We can be glad that there have been others who were willing to do it for us.