The Campfire Trail: February 11 - The Campfire Trail

February 11, 2025

Day 1,229 of the Adventure

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A friend of mine posted a lament on social media about receiving her heating bill, (probably electricity, but I'm not sure) for $203 this month. She included the statement "How can the poor and elderly keep their heat on?" The comments came rolling in from others proclaiming they had spent anywhere from $461, $600, $400 and even as high as "Nearly $900". The person paying $600 also said this was in addition to $1,400 for rent. One exclaimed that they had resorted to keep their thermostat set to 60 degrees and still paid over $400. The full statement from the small pic was a gentleman declaring "Yeah mine was almost $900 needless to say I don't have heat probably won't for the rest of the winter". I certainly empathize with this group and am quite certain that they represent a much larger segment of society who are dealing with very similar struggles.

This reality is something I have mixed feelings about. On the one hand, it infuriates me that the inflationary spending practices of our government over the past several years have contributed greatly to this problem. On the other hand, we had to have seen it coming for at least three to four years. Perhaps giving us time to prepare for it to a degree. Between the one hand and the other, I don't know for sure if there's a lot we can expect in the way of change. At least not immediate change. Part of the problem is that even if and when a positive change comes, it never seems to reach as far into the positive direction as it had into the negative direction. That's a long-winded way of saying, "It's probably not going to ever go back to where it was". I'm afraid that's the reality. Although I could be wrong. Where does that leave us?

I realize that not everyone can see a crisis brewing on the horizon. I also realize that even with several years of "red flag" indicators, not everyone has the capability of preparing for an oncoming crisis. I also realize there are those who simply choose to ignore the warnings and obliviously march along until they hit the proverbial "brick wall" and wonder how they got there and what to do about it. I personally know people in all of those categories. In summary, there's the "can't see it coming", "can't do anything about it coming" and the "don't think it's important enough to worry about it coming" groups. All are pretty much affected the same way. So where does this leave us?

Well, I'm afraid that whatever preparation, or lack of it, lead us to where each of us are now, today is the day we have to decide what to do next. I have no doubt that many will simply resign themselves to fate and do nothing. Others may try to fight back with some kind of plan, but it will feel mostly hopeless because of waiting so long to take action and being so far behind. My hope is that for some, a reality will set in that even though it's a bleak time, that a new hope for a better future will spark something in them. Not necessarily a move toward an apocalyptic view of the future, Instead, a renewed appreciation and commitment to a life of self-sufficiency. One that allows for the building of a lifestyle less dependent on the outside forces in our lives that exact such a heavy toll on our resources and peace of mind. Sometimes it takes a crisis to bring us to the point of change. A good friend used to tell me; "People won't change until the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change." and I believe this is true. We have personally dedicated the past four years of our lives to developing a strong sense of self-sufficiency. It's been a fulfilling process as we've built up food independence, energy independence, and simply a life less controlled by those outside forces. It's also insulated us from the effects of those forces. Are we where we want to be. No, we still have a long way to go.

As we all improve on our plans for sense of self-sufficiency, I invite you to visit our YouTube channel and see all of the things we are doing and teaching to help create your own pathway to independence. There's no cost to it and I can almost guarantee you'll find some worthwhile content that can help. Here's a short video to get you started: "Increasing Your Self-Sufficiency Firewall" Click the link and make sure to subscribe once you're there.

Carry On

Adventure Quote: “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” ― Benjamin Franklin

Resources

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