Concern yourself with what you can affect; AKA the realism thread, page 1

We see many potential and real-time changes happening around us globally, and I find it easy to get caught up conspiracies.; in the past, I've become somewhat consumed by some of them. The real-life things are always in front of us. There are a myriad of natural disasters that can radically change our lives.... or even take them. To plow through all this, I've found it useful to concern myself with the things I can affect. "concern", meaning expending energies on; I can fret about all manner of things, and that can be debilitating if one takes them all to heart. Worse yet, is the prospect of being worried about things that may not come to pass, or may not even exist. I'm not besmirching CT.... heck, I'm here, right?

An example: This NWO thing. How does that work exactly? Faceless elite conquer the world, run all the little people into prison camps and then frolic around the world, finally free from the necessity of standing in line? There will always be a need for worker bees, the real heart and soul of each nation -- the can-do people that get stuff done! People herded into concentration camps by the millions, so ....... what, they can be then a financial burdon on the PTB? I just don't see it. I'm not saying I have any proof of there being no NWO, I'm just saying that it seems to defy logic, at least as often presented. Do secret societies exist? I don't know. I think it likely they do, but again, I doubt they are creeping around like Simon Bar Sinister, on the cusp of ruling the world. There are organizations aplenty out there, and what strikes me as the most illogical, is the notion that amongst all these warring and conflictive nations, that somehow, behind the scenes, they've all come to some manner of agreement, all the while posturing and rattlin' metaphorical sabers to keep the population placated.

I believe UFOs are real. I have no proof, but that is some I can affect -- I can continue to be vigilant, watching the skies, the sea, researching ideas and visual evidence here and other places. As I've said before, I'm not convinced that [if they exist] EBE's are from someWHERE else. They might be from someWHEN else; they might have been here before humans and living on the bottom of the ocean. An entertaining idea, but worthless in regard to my family's survival.

Why did I post this in survival forum? Because I think we can easily get detracted from the important picture. Survival isn't a dark art, it's the desire to compile the tools and knowlege to augment the continuation of benefit. Here, a hurricane is the highest probability natural disaster, followed by perhaps tsunami or earthquake. Therefore, in order to enhance one's odds of surviving such events, a person has to mentally walk through various scenarios, tweak your preps, and most of all, keep them reasonable. More and more, I talk with people who feel absolutely overwhelmed by the blitz of information, particularly the speculative info.

I suggest a general organization of survival preps; keep in mind that the specific order of these are dependent upon YOUR situation. You might not need any or all of these. A sorta-kinda pragmatic approach.

1. Knowledge and skills. What things are primary for sustaining life? Can you make, gather or fabricate these things under most circumstances? I have a saying...... "if you can't make it, and you can't fake it, you'd better stock it." [t.p. 'nuff said]. Yah, I know, it lacks a certain pizazz.

2. Air. We need to breathe, and in most places the ability to do so is a given. Are there circumstances probable near you that could compromise that? Many years ago, we spent a few dollars on some ABC masks and extra cannisters. Just cheap insurance. We also learned how to fabricate our own Kearney Fallout Meter: www.ki4u.com...

3. Water. Water is next in our hierarchy of needs. Stocking up either bottled water, or treated water in containers. Storage of water, but perhaps more important, the ability to filter/purify your own water. Your water strategy is very personal, crafted to fit your area, and your budget. If you buy bottled water, you could save money by buying a quality water filter, such as the Big Berkey. www.thebereanchronicles.com... R/O systems are getting cheaper too. Perhaps you only want to invest in Polar Pure or similar product www.polarequipment.com... . Last time I bought one of these lil' bottles, I believe I paid a little over $10.00 USD. It has the capability of treating approximately 500 gallons. So, water strategy depends upon your own situation, as probably all survival strageties do.

4. Shelter/warmth/coolth. Yes, coolth is a word. ;o) In our case, a shelter strategy is two-fold: We're blessed with having access to a high-ground cave. If the hypothetical disaster will get us anyway, cave or not, then I'm not going to spend energies on it. While one of my guilty pleasures is wandering the Nibiru/2012 writings, I think of that as entertainment. I hope nothing will happen, and moreover can't affect that situation. I keep an open mind. Consider how to carry or construct a temporary shelter if there's a probability of your home being destroyed. Acquire the hand-tools to be able to construct it, plus any materials that might become difficult to get. Think garage sales.

5. Food. Stock the things you eat, rotate your stocks. Acquire a little extra every time you shop, the financial impact is not so great. All of these things can be incorporated into your life, something you do for yourself, and those you care about. If you have resources, you have choices. What will we be doing years from now if no catclysm happens? Hopefully, the same thing..... growing our own food, pedaling our bikes, and striving for a minimalist lifestyle.

Thanks for stopping by; you've been very patient. This is by no means even a partial organization -- just the tip. Feel free to add your ideas, and SMILE, and laugh and live.

[edit on 30-6-2008 by argentus]

reply to post by Dogdish

---

Hiya Dogdish, and welcome to my first and least viewed thread

I don't want to invest big bucks into stuff that might only be useful in X situation. What we've been trying to do is live a minimalist lifestyle, and invest in stuff that will be useful regardless of the outcome (or so we hope).

All our supplies arrive on a barge, pulled by a tugboat lovingly named The Bloody Bay. Sweet, huh? We've become accustomed to doing without a lot of stuff, a lot of foods. What I want to do, or continue to do, is to tweak our preparations and lifestyle such that we don't have a 'shock period' or to lessen it -- you know....... in the aftermath of a SitX, a person has to adapt. We're (m'Bride and I) all about adapting, we just want to do it BEFORE the situation, rather than afterwards.

How many people do you know that can:

Make fire without matches/lighter/blastmatch/flint&steel/chemical accelerants?

Make their own soap without buying anything?

Fabricate a weapon out of common natural material?

Feed themselves if the supply chain were severed?

Acquire and process water so it is safe to drink?



Oh yeah, the masks. Much of what I've seen in military surplus stores are potentially crappy quality, however they are better than a dust mask if you should be so unfortunate as to be in a fallout situation. I don't plan to be in a fallout situation, but it could happen. We spent USD $600 several years ago for two quality full-face masks w/two extra cartridges each. They're packed away safely where they won't degrade quickly. Peace of mind.

Thanks for stopping by. I was pretty surprised to see a response

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