Monthly Archives: March 2012
THERE AREN’T ENOUGH HOURS IN THE DAY
Tonight my kids are spending the night with friends, and because it is the middle of the week instead of the weekend I got a real feel for what it is going to be like when they have all moved on. It wasn’t quite a loneliness that settled on me, perhaps more of a melancholy. Going through the normal midweek routine without the usual kid activities, knowing there would be no interruptions or conflict or bedtime hugs or anything, was very sobering. It didn’t feel right; the house is supposed to be full of life; full of love and relationships. It just drove home how precious – and temporary – this time in my life is.
It made me thing that we have the concept of retirement backwards. We should be “retired” while the kids are young, and then pursue our careers when they have grown, rather than retiring once they are gone and the demands of life are fewer; with nothing but time to putter around in an empty house. All the family bonds and relationships, and all the demands of parenthood having taken place when we had the least amount of time and energy to deal with them.
This is why I need to break free, this is why I need liberty. There is nothing more fulfilling than relationships filled with caring and love, than feeling connected and accepted and wanted and needed. If I am going to take control of my life and how I spend my time, my to do list must start getting shorter. I’m not saying I’m just going to start ignoring things, but the number of things that are recurring must start getting smaller. This means finding the time to deal with them, which means I can’t continue giving the best of myself to something that sees me as an expendable commodity to be strip mined; as a resource to be exploited.
I must make the time now so I don’t find myself at some point in the future looking back with regret that I didn’t get to enjoy a rich family life while still young enough to make the most of it. Of course I need to provide for my family, but I must evaluate what it is I am providing them with. Am I really getting (and giving) the best of what life has to offer?
WORK IT OUT
I am having difficulty defining what is most important to me and why, as it seems there are several things that all overlap, or more precisely, intertwine. I think the underlying theme of it all is that I don’t want to be at the mercy of others. Specifically the corporations. I don’t want to be a victim. I don’t want to be helpless if we survive a natural disaster (tornado or power outage), and I want the liberty to make my own decisions, and to spend my time the way I see as most beneficial.
I can’t seem break free because my current cost of living is just too high, and I can’t seem to pursue a remedy to that because the demands on my time are just too many. Toil and slavery are the two words that come to mind. Nonetheless I am determined. Since all I can manage right now are baby steps, that is what I will take.
For instance, I can commit to 15 minutes to exercise in day, I may be able to do more on some days, but I can’t commit to that so 15 minutes is my goal. However I make it the most effective 15 minutes I can, so I do 15 minutes of HIIT two or three days a week. I supplement that by taking the stairs, parking farther away, etc.
So how does exercise fit in with Liberty and Resilience? My health is paramount. It is the one thing that will stay with me regardless of my circumstances. I must be in good health to stay out of the sick care system as much as possible, reduce the need for meds, enable my body to do the work it needs to do to support my lifestyle choices, and to not be burden on my family in the future.
So Here is my Road to Liberty and Resilience Action Journal:
- Tabata workout – Heart rate max=162; recovery heart rate=126
- Re-filed taxes. Actually getting a return this year and it should be enough to pay off another credit card. That’s right, no frivolous spending; there’ll be time for that once I am free.
- Spent about 30 minutes making some of the statements on my resume and linked in profile stronger
APROPOS
“The world has no room for cowards. We must all be ready somehow to toil, to suffer, to die. And yours is not the less noble because no drum beats before you when you go out into your daily battlefields, and no crowds shout about your coming when you return from your daily victory or defeat.”
Something I Have Overlooked
I have failed to mention that the very first thing I did was pull together an EDC kit. It took very little in the way of time and resources, and the potential it provides far, far outstrips the effort and expense I put into it. I would recommend that be the first step anyone takes on the road to independence. Be prepared, you’ll never regret it!
(Please note that there is a difference between an EDC bag, a car kit bag, and a bug out bag.)
I started with a $15 backpack which I still use as my EDC, and goes everywhere with me. I have some spare cash, a knife, lip balm, a pad of paper, a pen, a sharpie, a cheap flashlight, a lighter superglue, mints, tweazers,..you get the idea. Personalize it for your own needs. Since an EDC goes everywhere and does not stay in the car (that would be a car kit), a couple of weeks ago I decided to add a spare set of keys to each of my vehicles. Guess what happened a couple of weeks ago that made me realize I needed to add them to the EDC…
SCOPE
Please know (as I do) that in the event of major and instant disasters, this blog will not be a very good resource. I’m talking about a major EMP or nuclear type attack. I will be accessing other blogs and resources for my information then. I merely want to achieve liberty, and have no real expertise in catastrophic meltdowns. I can fish and forage, and would have no problem shooting someone to protect my family, and I have scoured the internet for things like what to include in a good first aid kit, but most of my advice isn’t going to help if you are looking for how to survive a total SHTF scenario.
This blog has two primary purposes which are highly intertwined: to be prepared for the highest probability scenarios on the Threat Probability Matrix, and to live the life of liberty that our Founding Fathers so vehemently believed in. I think if you accomplish one you will have accomplished the other as well. I need to be able to live my life on my terms. I no longer want to be a debt serf, and I don’t want to be dependent upon the government to fix things if a crisis should occur. But accomplishing those goals requires time and money – two resources of which I am in short supply. I have debt, I work a lot of hours so I have very little free time, and I barely make enough money to provide for my family. I really feel like a slave.
Where there is a will, there is a way. I need to make sure I get the most bang for my buck (maximum results) from my efforts. I need to focus my efforts on those things that are going to yield multiple benefits for the time and money I put in. I need maximum/multiple benefits from each input. I also need to do something each week (daily if possible) to keep me moving in the right direction.
SuburbanResilience 