For one thing, I do not think much about the apocalypse or the end of our societal structure as we know it. I do not dismiss these possibilities. I just have a tendency to focus on scenarios that are much more common place.
Hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, forest fires, flash floods, major snow storms, and other acts of nature occur much more frequently than the end of the world. If you live in an area that is prone to such events you likely know by now that it is prudent to store extra water and other basic necessities. However, these are single events that are generally short lived and are not everyday occurrences.
Everyone likes to focus on huge, single events that stir lots of emotion instead of addressing how we live everyday.
What about our day-to-day lives? Why not focus on developing the skills of self reliance as a lifestyle? Would it not be wise to incorporate those skills into your day-to-day life?
Human Nature
At a subconscious level, all humans crave normalcy, routine, and familiarity. This is especially true during a disaster or some other stressful event. Small children carry stuffed animals and security blankets for comfort. As adults we mentally carry security blankets in the form of “having our own place”, or “waking up in our own bed”. We also find security in starting our day with our favorite coffee, tea, or some other food item.
What would you do if your security blanket was taken away?
In my opinion, our modern culture is robbing us of our security blanket. This form of robbery is very subtle. It slowly slips into our lives in the form of having very little control over our basic necessities. Yet many of us accept this as a way of life and never give it much thought. It’s easy, convenient, and you never have to worry about anything. Or do you?
Most of us never think about how things can and do suddenly change without our permission. Obvious examples are a car accident, an unexpected illness, or someone you know suddenly dies. But what about a natural disaster, a sudden storm that takes out the grid for several weeks. That is not something you can control. What if for some reason you no longer had easy access to fresh water, food, or any other basic necessity?
This lack of control over many things in our lives is what robs us of our security. Having no security essentially produces an enormous sense of uneasiness. And that is what I see everyday. The good thing is that more and more people are starting to pay attention.
We Are Completely Dependent
The simple fact is that the vast majority of us are completely dependent on a huge infrastructure for our daily needs. We take it for granted that we have easy access to all the basic necessities such as electricity, running water, and fresh foods. However, the ease and convenience of our daily lifestyle produces a false sense of security. We are convinced that we are in control. At face value, this appears to be a wonderful lifestyle. But the ease and convenience disguises a very significant underlying problem.
The underlying problem is that as long as someone else is in control of your resources, they are in control of your life. Do you actually have a choice over what you pay for the basic essentials of your everyday life?
Things in our world can change very rapidly. We are so connected that we instantly hear about those changes as well as all the bad news. It is common place to hear about another disaster, the rising cost of living, global warming, the next recession, or another oil crisis. We are constantly bombarded with things that are out of our control.
People Are Loosing Trust
To make matters even more challenging, there seems to be a general loss of trust in our societal structure and government to perform it’s most basic function, which is to take care of the people. There is fear that our very economy and social structure will not survive in its present form. Additionally, more and more people are tired of a consumer culture, heavy debt, and mortgage induced wage slavery. People are also growing weary of high utility bills, the general stresses of modern society, and a general loss of personal privacy and freedom because we live in a surveillance society.
Consequently, your security blanket is gone. You are not actually in control of your life. Someone else is making decisions that affect you and you have no voice in the matter.
Self Reliance is the Answer?
I cannot solve the world’s problems. I cannot control or solve the issues of a vast and complicated infrastructure. Nor can I influence a giant government that no longer seems to address the needs of the people. And it is certainly not possible to control the price of oil.
But, what I can control is how I live everyday. I can control my dependence on others for many of my daily needs. It is possible to downsize my life, live frugally, get out of debt, pay off the mortgage, and daily practice the skills of self reliance.
This is in fact what I do. Everyday I walk further down the road of self reliance. By doing so I gain a little bit more confidence that I can take care of myself. This confidence makes me worry less about what else is going on in the world that is out of my control. I can have some control by simply making the right decisions for myself. Furthermore, because of the way I live, I have come to a very important realization.
I have realized that self reliance is the best security blanket.
Other articles of interest
Why the 30 Year Mortgage is Not Your Friend
The Importance of Simplifying Your Life
Go off grid and live well,
Patrick
