Sorry I didn’t get anything posted last week. I have been having some issues with my hosting site and couldn’t get anything posted. I am still working on it but I can at least post now.
Guest Article by NRP & Blue, July 26, 2021.
Hello everyone;
I have read and heard a lot of questions about “Well how do I Start a Deep Pantry and/or Preparing for hard times that ‘May’ come?”
So I figured maybe it’s a good time to do a few Articles on how I actually started my awareness of being ‘Prepared’ for difficult or ‘Hard’ times that could come, and yes ready for the good times also.
I want to say, first of all, I’m not going to give you a list and tell you to go out and buy ‘This or That’ or tell you to get some First Aid Training; that is not my intention of this upcoming series of Articles. What I will be doing is suggesting things you need to think about and how I set myself up both Mentally and Physically (stuff) to have a better understanding of how I wanted to live my life to the fullest AND to be ready (Prepared) for all those tens of thousands of things that try to ruin one’s positive outlook on one’s short time we have here on this Rock we call Home (Earth).
Mindset:
Now before you go and say “Well Duhhhh” hear me out.
In order to do anything in life well, you have got to have the right Mindset, correct?
When I was younger, MUCH younger I remember my family going camping, a LOT, it was cheap and we all usually had a wonderful time being in the wilderness usually near some lake and ohhhhh so beautiful country. We would ALWAYS do many Hikes and Fishing. I recall those nights sitting on a bridge that ran over a small river; my father would hang an old gas Coleman Lantern from a rope just about 6” from the water. I wondered “what the heck is he doing?” well, it was a no brainer shortly after the Bugs would come to the light, some would of course fry on the hot lantern and fall into the water, guess what that did? Yeppers, here come the fish, right at our feet that would be dangling over the side of the bridge catching tomorrow’s breakfast.
I remember so much I learned from those days just Camping, of course, there was always the Hunting trips, where I learned to NEVER shoot anything you were not going to eat, yes I have eaten Muskrat, ONCE!!!! But it taught me how to find things in the forest that most people would never see. We would always come home with Polk Greens, Acorns, Walnuts, Wild Strawberries, and dozens of other things we learned to find.
Well, “So What,” you ask? Well, it gave me the ‘Mindset’ that there are things all around us that 95% of the people have NO IDEA are there; basically how to fend for myself if needed.
I guess I was lucky. I grew up in a time when you could actually leave the house first light on a Saturday morning and be gone all day without your parents staging a Man Hunt to find you. One thing, you were always home for dinner. Try that nowadays, there would be 5000 people out there looking for you, go ahead, and tell me I’m wrong. What was it I was taught you ask; the ‘Mindset’ that you were responsible for yourself, AND those with you, sometimes my Brothers, sometimes my friends. You found out very quickly that if you’re with a group, it’s a group till your home safe and sound.
Those were many, Many, MANY years back, but the learning to find the ‘Mindset’ to provide for and, as the Boy Scouts always said, “Be Prepared” never did end. All through life, if you’re paying attention there are things teaching you that you need to be ready, to have the instincts to recognize the Good and the Bad in life, ALL of those things that Life teaches us will help to form your ‘Mindset’….. As long as you listen to them.
So why am I yapping on about ‘Mindset’? Simple, for if you don’t have the right ‘Mindset’ to Build that Deep Pantry, or to start learning Skills you “MAY” need if the world goes to (excuses my language) if the world goes to hell in a handbasket, then your most likely not going to have the ‘Stuff’ and the ‘Knowledge’ you will need to make it through ohhhhhh let’s say a Second Great Depression or any SHTF scenario you want to toss out into the mix.
This is the very FIRST thing you need to do, PERIOD!!!! For if you go at Preparing thinking “well I’ll do this and that” but only go along for the “In Thing” to do these days, you are going to get real tired of it real quick and fail miserably at your goal; Preparing for your Family. You have GOT to honestly think and decide if you want the .gov (snicker snicker) to take care of you If/When or your strong enough to do this on your own and make sure you AND those that you Love for and Care about (Family) are safe.
End of Lecture on ‘Mindset’; and yes that was one of the first things I got straight in my brain, I had to if I was going to make the commitment I have.
Lifestyle;
Yes, I have mentioned this many times before, but please humor me for those that are just reading this.
Once you have your Mindset clear then you need to start thinking about the Lifestyle you want to live. Do you want to still “Keep up with the Joneses” or are you going to be satisfied with living something different? Now I know that most people now-a-days are making a billion dollars a month and can literally buy whatever they want in a heartbeat. Right?
Well maybe not so much; most people I know are just barely making it and are so far in Debt they HATE to see the Bills come in during the month. I mean seriously Credit Cards at $25-30,000 at 18% OR MORE interest? Think I’m kidding?
So where are you?
I was young and stupid for sure, I was there for a bit in time. I will never forget the first time my late wife told me we could not make some payments… OMG, I had to ask my Father to lend me $1000. I was devastated; I could not look him in the eye and was completely broken. I swore I would NEVER NEVER NEVER be in that situation EVER again, I seriously felt that I had failed my wife and father, I had Failed. It took us almost 2 years to pay everything off, and I do mean we worked our azzes off, 3 jobs, and ZERO spending was the norm.
Talk about learning something……
From that day on I have never had a single Bill I could not pay in full the second it came in.
I/we changed my lifestyle 100%, Both of us decided to get out of where we were and how we were living, Left California the week we paid everything off, found a chunk of Dirt where we built from scratch, and scraps. OMG it was hard, but we know this is where we wanted to be, the Lifestyle we wanted AND yes Needed.
If you want to live the new “Off Grid” fad of Lifestyle, I wish you the very best of luck, and I would support you 1000% in doing so, but please remember, do so with an Open Mind, and do not believe it’s going to be easy. In the same breath, I believe there is NO reason not to live a decent lifestyle in the middle of New York City, it would be an interesting challenge for sure, but there is no reason that it might not work. Good luck finding 20 acres to grow that Garden and 10 Beef, Chickens, Rabbits, but what the heck, worth a try, Right? Ok Ok, so much for my sense of humor, GET OUT OF THE CITIES if you’re going to raise Chickens. Got it?
So, you need to figure out IF you want to live the ‘Lifestyle’ and not have all those new fancy cars, the 2 carrot Diamond Ring and all that stuff, Honestly, I/we never missed a single day without smiling and being so VERY happy we “Got Out” and lived as we have.
Ya want to find happiness, go to some old country town of 300 people and hit the Saturday Night Hoedown Square Dance….. People are different that know how to live the ‘Lifestyle’ and, people, let me tell you, Life is good once you figure it out.
One last thing on ‘Lifestyle, please do a search here on Connie’s BLOG for an Article called Grandma was a Prepper. That will also explain had and why I choose this Lifestyle.
Old Fart:
My friends, Life is difficult at best, it’s all-out miserable at some of the worst of times.
I will never tell you that living a Lifestyle or being a Prepper is easy, a matter of fact at times it’s extremely hard, complicated, and non-rewarding.
With that said, I know a lot of folks that have chosen to do such, why you ask?
Simple, the satisfaction of knowing you “Did it yourself”, you have provided a lifelong existence of being, well…., of being independent and having the feeling of true Freedom from a LOT of the controlling world we live in, from the hustle and bustle, the “Keep up with the Joneses”, and a LOT of the life-stealing stress most live in.
Honestly it’s very hard to describe the attitude and the inner peace you find.
Take a good look at that photo I have above. There is a person that is “good” with his soul where it is. With the way, he has lived and he knows in his heart he’s “Good to go” in all aspects of his life, now and after.
Ok, hopefully, you will think on where you really need to be in your life, as I have said, Just take a “Time Out” and think about your future and the future of your Family.
Next week I’m going to actually start with the ‘Stuff’ and ‘Knowledge’ aspect of where I got to where I’m at, and try to convince you to really take this seriously.
About time huh??? hehehe