Note: If you haven’t read parts 1 & 2 you probably should. Otherwise, this article may not make much sense to you. <click here to read part 1>

 

Earlier this year I gave several warnings about not joining certain groups, essentially keeping a fairly low profile, not getting too involved…especially too publicly involved. The time was just not right due to a number of underlying issues. That’s changed.

 

Here is what I am asking, suggesting, that you do:

1. Define your principles
2. Focus on only significant/important issues
3. Find your passion and work it
4. Total and complete assessment of all 7 areas of your prepping efforts
5. Remember balance
6. Help/serve others
7. Work your tail off !

Here is a little more explanation of what I mean in regards to those areas…

Define your principles –

Figure out exactly what you believe in; write it down to ensure they make sense to you. It doesn’t have to be long or involved.

Principle example: Abortion. Do you support it or not? Why? And what degree of tolerance do you have for violating that principle?

Answer example: I believe abortion to be wrong because the 6th Commandment says we shouldn’t kill (shed innocent blood), God tells us not to. The “standard” is the eternal principle to not shed innocent blood. And there is only one exception…a God-given right of self-defense. Gad has given us the right to self-defense and to defend our families. So the only exception to my principle stand would by the mother’s right to have an abortion should her doctor tell her that her pregnancy would kill her. Otherwise, I do not support abortion…period. It is also a “red line principle” of mine; something I sincerely and deeply believe in. That means if a political candidate supports abortion on demand, I won’t support that candidate.

Weigh issues against the “standards” that you hold to be of value. I use two standards; 1) the Constitution, 2) God. Just to have a more interesting debate in my head/heart I ask myself two questions; 1) What would the Founding Fathers say about this issue?, 2) What would Jesus say about this issue? The answer to those questions usually makes it very clear what my position should be.

Yes, this is all very, very subjective. That is why they are MY beliefs and MY principles. YOU have to decide what YOUR beliefs and principles are and why. If you don’t answer the “why” aspect then your principles and beliefs don’t have a solid foundation.

Focus on only significant issues –

There is a lot going on in the world, a long list of man-made and natural calamities taking place. It would be easy for a person to get distracted. I am telling you…ignore the static!

What is static? ONLY those things/issues which are NOT the most important to you and your family.

Example: “Chemtrail conspiracy theory”…now, I don’t care if you believe in it or not. My point…What can you do about it right now? This week? This month? What can you ever do about it? I am telling you the answer to all of those questions is…NOTHING! Because if the idea is true, you don’t have enough power to do anything about it.

Now, put it into perspective with other issues in your life…do you have a year’s supply of food? How about have taken an advanced FirstAid class on treating trauma wounds? You are far more likely to need food from your year’s supply and you are far more likely to need to treat a trauma would…then suffer from chemtrails. You can add to your food storage, you can take a FirstAid class far easier than cure any chemtrail issue.

Only give your time, effort, and resources to issues that are the most important…ignore the static!

FYI…90% of everything swirling around in life is static.

Find your passion and work it –

This is an easy one…find out what you love to do…then do it…a lot! For me it is commonsense prepping, working my little homestead, giving service to others, and doing family history (genealogy).

Yes, of course I do other things, the more mundane, life-required stuff. I still walk for exercise, clean my shop, take showers, and all other manner of boring (albeit necessary) tasks.

I am asking you to find out what really turns you on and then pursue it with a passion. Why? Because you can make a difference, a real difference, when you are passionate about something.

The only thing I ask of you…make sure your passions are moral and ethical. What about legal? Well, that is up to you 😉 The government has made sure that just about everything can be illegal in one way or another.

Total and complete assessment of all 7 areas of your prepping efforts –

Review the 7 Common Threats & Risks to all emergencies, disasters, and grid-down events. Then do an honest assessment of where your prepping efforts stand. Then make a realistic plan to fill the problematic gaps in your prepping. I am not suggesting that you go into debt, make your family suffer, create conflict with your spouse, inflict stress into your life…just make a doable plan to become better prepared. Plug the holes!

Remember “balance” –

Don’t get out of balance in your life. Don’t allow yourself to become obsessive with any single aspect of life. Remember the old adage…moderation in all things. I will present my wagon wheel theory examples for your consideration.

When you are balanced you are a better person…you are more of a help to others…a better parent…a better spouse…a better friend…a better Disciple of Christ.

Help & serve others –

Yeah, may sound a little strange at first, but trust me on this one. When you serve others you become a better person in almost every aspect. I am not asking you to become Mother Teresa. I am asking you to simply be of more service to others…help others. It may be something as simple as being kind to someone who looks to be having a bad day by a friendly “hello” as you pass by them. It might be something as grandiose as fixing someone’s car troubles. It could be helping the aged widow next door go to a doctor’s appointment. It might be a simple birthday card to a neighbor who lives alone. You figure out what you can do to help and serve others…then do it!

Oh, come on! Yes, don’t become obsessive over this…don’t become out of balance in serving others. But you have time in your life, in your day, to help others…so just go help.

Work your tail off! –

At this particular time, in this particular place, with all that is going on…you are needed! Your time, talents, efforts, even money are all needed. Now is the time to go operational!

Get out there and do the things that are needed. There will be time later for rest when things calm down. But right now…things are not calm…and best of all…right now you can make a difference!

Go out there into life an tackle those things that need to be done. Get ready!

Summary –

Earthquakes, wildfires, multiple and concurrent hurricanes, ravaging summer storms, violence, riots, the plague, politics based hate, and oh so much more. Yes, all of those things are happening right now at the same time. It is as if the world has been turned upside down and some great force has been released to make our lives miserable…even deadly. Well, it has. And yes, it will get worse.

But, let me assure you…it will get worse. Yeah, you read that sentence exactly right…it will get worse. Why? Well, that doesn’t really matter. How? Well, that doesn’t really matter either. What does matter is what you do!

So what is all this “do” I am referring to? It comes down to “doing” one thing…prepping. However, there are two aspects of prepping. Obviously there is the side of prepping that is easy to see…ways to defend yourself and your family, food storage, medical supplies and first aid knowledge, water storage, etc. The list could go on until I’ve covered all 7 areas. It is easy to know what to do in this respect. Let’s call that temporal prepping. Temporal meaning “enduring for a time only” in regards to our prepping. I could also refer to it as those things we can hold in our hands and the knowledge to use those things properly. But, there is another aspect of prepping I want to share with you today…a far, far more important facet of prepping.

I am referring to a mental state of mind, a person’s outlook, beliefs, intentions, and even their spirituality. Actually to me, in my way of thinking, you can add all of those terms together and summarize them with the term “spiritual prepping.” Now, don’t go getting all weirded out on me…just hear me out.

Your beliefs, your state of mind, when it comes to prepping is of key importance. It may mean the difference between surviving or not…or the person you become while surviving emergencies, disasters, or a grid-down event. If you have no solid foundation for your belief system then you will be easily swayed one or another on key issues and your behavior. If your beliefs are not founded on clear right and wrong, unmistakably understanding both, there exists the potentiality to a dark side of prepping and your behavior post-event.

Example: You claim to be a Christian…but during an incident you deny food to your extended family because they could have prepared (i.e. food storage) but bought a boat instead. Really?! Wherein lies the greater sin? Should they starve to death while your family has full bellies? What would Christ think of that attitude?

I am not telling you what to believe or what level of spiritual preparedness you should obtain. Those decisions are yours to make. I am simply asking you to be spiritually prepared as much as you are prepared from a temporal aspect.

Look at it this way…when the incident is over will you be satisfied with the person you became while the incident was taking place? Did you behave according to correct principles? If you are a Christian, would Christ himself be pleased with how you behaved, the person you became?

This is the time to be active, be bold, finish your temporal prepping. But, I am also asking you to give thought to your spiritual preparedness. It is important.

The past two days of SitRep material was extensive, detailed, involved, maybe a little daunting and overwhelming…you may not have even agreed with all that I had to say. That’s okay too.

What I hope happened during the last two days, and most specifically today, is that you listened to that little voice in your head and in your heart. You heard a message…you heard your message. Even in today’s article I made suggestions, encouraged you to action in some action areas. But, in the final analysis this is all my opinion, all my thoughts, all my…well, it is all about “me.”

What I am asking is for you to figure out how “you” fit into all of this, what you can do, and how you can do what needs to be done. So actually…it is all about “you.”

Now is the time to act!

If not you, who?

If not now, when?

Now is the time to be bold!

Now is the time to act!

 

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