Surviving Life
Finding a New Role
Hi, I’m Michael and I’m a stroke survivor.
I’ve recently become a Scout leader, though not in the traditional sense. I’m not attached to a suburban Scout unit. Instead, I’ve joined a specialist team that teaches survival skills and bushcraft to Scouts and Venturers across Victoria.
Typically, a local Scout group organises a camp and invites our team to parachute in and teach various skills. It’s a fantastic model that allows young people to learn from leaders with a wide range of experiences and expertise.
A Team of Specialists
Each member of the team brings something different to the table.
While everyone can teach most of the core skills, each person tends to specialise in a particular area. Especially over a weekend camp where multiple activity stations are running at the same time.
We have former military personnel who teach knife and axe safety, sharpening, shelter building, and fieldcraft. We have a CFA member who is an expert in fire. Others focus on knots, hootchie setup, tracking, and even skinning animals.
They are all highly practical skills.
As the newest member of the team, I found myself wondering what I could contribute.
The Limitations of Stroke
The challenge is that my expertise isn't immediately obvious.
Post-stroke, my physical limitations slow me down. My right hand is still weaker than it was before, which means I'm not the natural choice for knife and axe work. I can use a ferro rod to start a fire, but I'm hardly setting any speed records.
I started questioning where I fit.
What could I teach these young people that would genuinely add value?
Asking the Right Person
I asked my wife, who has also joined the team, what she thought my area of expertise might be.
Her answer surprised me.
She said my skill wasn't the same as the others.
My skill was resilience.
More Than Practical Skills
I remember learning that during the Second World War, when Allied ships were being torpedoed, it was often the older, more resilient sailors who survived being shipwrecked rather than the younger, fitter men.
The survivors didn't just possess practical skills.
They possessed something deeper.
An inner strength.
A mindset.
A belief that they would find a way through.
My wife suggested that teaching young people about resilience, mental toughness, and "surviving school" might be every bit as valuable as teaching them how to build a shelter or light a fire.
Lessons From Recovery
Since my stroke, I've seen the power of resilience up close.
I've watched people face extraordinary challenges and refuse to give up.
I've also seen how mindset can influence recovery. Not because positive thinking magically fixes disability, but because resilience helps people keep showing up, keep trying, and keep moving forward when progress is painfully slow.
Recovery taught me that survival isn't always about physical strength.
Sometimes it's about what happens between your ears.
A Different Kind of Survival Skill
The more I think about it, the more I believe resilience deserves a place alongside bushcraft and survival skills.
Because life will eventually throw challenges at every one of us.
Not everyone will need to build a shelter in the wilderness.
But everyone will face setbacks, disappointments, failures, loss, and moments when they question themselves.
Learning how to keep going may be one of the most important survival skills of all.
And perhaps that's the skill I have to teach.