The Road Home

The Road Home
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Saturday, July 27, 2013

What Would You Do?

I had a friend ask me yesterday, "What would you do tomorrow if you knew that a long-term collapse of some kind was going to happen the day after tomorrow?" I told her, "That is a very good question. I'm not sure. I may go the the store for the last time to get whatever I could. Or I may just stay here and plan on not leaving again."

So I pose the question to you, the reader. What would you do?

It's an almost inconceivable thought process - to try to imagine what it would be like if what you have, know, can do, your location - that's it. No more trips to the store, across the state, across the country or across the ocean. This is it. Where you are, what you have, what you have learned - are all you have to help you and your family survive. 

Are you ready for that? Do you have the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical preparations you need to take care of those who will be depending on you? Can you support each other when the sheer enormity of the situation threatens to overwhelm you into a stupor or cause you to curl up in the corner in a quivering mass? Do any of us truly have the internal tenacity to not only withstand but overcome the obstacles and odds that will impact our very survival in a serious collapse situation?


I listed the types of preparations needed in a specific order for a reason. First, spiritual preparedness. If a serious, long-term collapse situation occurs, we all need to be prepared to meet God. We will all get to meet Him one day, but in a collapse situation, more of us may meet Him sooner rather than later. So, have your relationship with God steady and sure.
The strength you will draw from Him  will help see you through, when times are stressful and difficult from your world being turned upside down. 

Next, mental preparation. Are you ready to face a collapse type of situation? Can you deal with not ever going to the store again for anything? No Cheetos, pop, coffee, tobacco, prescription medications, highly sugar laced prepared food, no frozen dinners, meat, eggs, cheese, salt, cereal.....and the list goes on and on. No tools to repair things with, no gardening tools, sewing supplies for mending, no pots and pans, canning jars and lids, or shoe strings.....  

Are you ready to defend your family - mentally. Can you do whatever it takes to keep them safe from those that would harm you and take whatever you have? Do you have the means of providing that protection?

There are many types of mental preparation to practice and think about. What about no internet or cell phones? No technology of any kind. No information about what is going on in the world, no way of knowing. That will be hard for many of us. We are so used to instant information and if we have to wait two seconds longer than usual for a webpage to open it is 'slow'. What if it all goes away in the blink of an eye?

Emotional preparedness. How can we ever really get ourselves ready for a total change of life? There are many books and movies
that depict a great number of suicides in a collapse situation because people cannot handle what has happened. I pray that you will not be one of these people. Doing what you can to be prepared for whatever may come will bring a measure of peace and strength to face the future. That preparation doesn't happen overnight. It is a process that has to be dealt with one step at a time. 

Physical preparations are the ones we think of most. Stocking up on canned goods, grains, freeze-dried food, clothes and other items is what usually happens first when someone becomes aware of the need to have some things handy in the chance of a short-term disaster. But what about a long-term disaster? Can you replace the food items you have once you eat all of them? Can you grow more food? Can you preserve the food you grow? Do you have enough seeds?   

So, what would you do? Would you collapse? Would you be able to step up to the challenge of survival? If you had one more day to prepare.........

Blessings to you all,

Fern

6 comments:

  1. WWF&FD? This is by far the BEST preparedness list I have ever seen! Food water guns and ammo? Always on the top of list. God. Spiritual strength. Your higher power. I agree with you. We will need more strength in every aspect than we will can imagine in the beginning of a collaspe. We will have to reach deep inside ourselves to do things possibly unthinkable to provide food, medicine and safety for our loved ones. We will need strength from a high power. God. God will be sought after from many people that have never kneeled for him.

    I thank you for taking your valuable time and sharing with all of us. I will in turn share this post.
    OP

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  2. Excellent post Fern. We've started changing our lifestyle to what we could realistically do should something as terrible as a collapse actually happen. As much as stocking up is important, the spiritual/emotional/mental part is key.

    We actually thought about getting a HAM radio, but now they're all integrated with the computer. :(

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    1. Thank you Leigh. Being self-sufficient is a way of life, not a task that you complete.

      Frank and I both have our General ham radio licenses and nothing we do involves the computer. The frequencies we use to communicate can be programmed into the radio with a computer program, but they can also be entered manually. Frank will be posting more about that in his radio communication series. If you haven't already, check out some of his radio posts.

      Take care,

      Fern

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    2. Hi Leigh,

      You made a comment about ham radio being computerized. You are correct, but that is a very small portion of ham radio. People that do contesting use specialized programs to locate other ham operators so that can make contact as quickly as possible with as many other ham operators as possible during a specified period of time. This is called contesting. They have them on weekends and some operate for a month. This is just something that some guys do in the ham radio world.

      Most ham radio operators do not use a computer. They have a simple radio and they try to keep in contact with people a short distance away and long distances. Ham radio uses many different frequencies, therefore, some guys will have one or two radios - two is about all you need - but there are some guys that just use one. I compare ham radio advertising to automobile advertising. Big trucks, big wheels, big engines, some macho looking fellow or flashy little sports car with a paid attractive model to pictures of ham radio operators with multiple computers and lots of radios and it is all just for looks. I drive a pickup truck, but I don't look anything like the guy in the pickup advertisements.

      I do not use a computer in my radio work or hobby except to program some frequencies into my handheld radios and VHF radios. Hope this helps. If you have questions, please let me know.

      Frank

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    3. P.S. Just looked at Frank's Radio Communication page and other links. Looks like most of our questions will be answered here. :)
      Best wishes,
      Leigh

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    4. Hello Leigh,

      Thank you for looking at the radio posts. I hope these will answer some of your questions. I've tried to discuss family type radios that are receive only and two-way communications. In the near future, I will be leading into entry level ham radio - how it works and where to go for information. If after reading some of the posts, you still have questions, please ask. But remember, most ham radio operators do not use computers for radio operation or operate in a digital mode.

      Best of luck,

      Frank

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