The Campfire Trail: February 8 - The Campfire Trail - Bracing For Uncertainty.... And Hope

February 8, 2025

Day 1,226 of the Adventure

www.thecampfiretrail.com

For the past four years, Shelley and I have been on a mission to re-establish a sense of self-sufficiency in our lives. Many of you know that our "Triggering" event was the attempted shut-down of much of our business activities during the early days of the covid event. We had state and county government's approval to remain open but were being bullied into closing from local government. We stood strong and did not comply with the illegitimate pressure being applied. It was still a scary time for us, trying to maintain enough business traffic to keep the bills paid. We survived and immediately began developing a strategy for any potential similar events. I believe we had survived our uncertainties related to covid mandates. What followed for the following few years has been far more destructive to our business, economy and the general economy of the nation than anything we faced with covid. One thing always leads to another, and the case is no different with our economy. Business closures sent people home with no paychecks. Stimulus money put a strain on the nation's finances. Additional stimulus, coupled with astronomical spending created inflation that drove prices up. We stand today with largest national debt we've ever had, the largest personal debt we've ever had, sky high prices for all of the essentials like food, fuel, utilities, housing, insurance and so on. Now here we are. What hope do we actually have or can count upon?

I believe there is hope, but not without a certain level of uncertainty first. If you have ever fought your way out of personal debt, you know the pain of the battle. None of it is fun. It's work, sacrifice, planning, going without and in general, just a long and difficult process. Couple that with the national debt and deficit crisis, it compounds the difficulty in clawing our way out of personal financial circumstances. I believe there is a real effort in turning the nations ship into a different direction, but already, we are hearing the shrieks of politicians and bureaucrats crying foul. I'm not at all sure what they have to scream about. In large part, the collective bunch of them got us in this position. I feel too bad about them having to put up with a little of the pain of needed to attempt to fix it. As the wrangle, fight, and point fingers at one another, we are left with our challenge of getting our own personal lives on track in this uncertain world.

I have hope in our personal future, only because of the steps we began to take four years ago to begin insulating ourselves from the political and financial mayhem. We've done nothing that anyone else could not do. It just takes planning and a commitment. Choosing to begin taking control of your future is the first step in a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. Creating that roadmap is a crucial step in the big picture. There is no room for "I Can't" in this pursuit. No matter where you are in life, the decision to take that first step is most important. Even if it's simply analyzing your grocery bill and begin tackling the food expenses. If that's where you can start, then start there. Creating a pathway to self-sufficiency may indeed be a life-long journey. If it is, is that such a bad thing? If you are serious about it, start a 365-day journal. Do it today. Describe to yourself the frustration you feel about not having control over your destiny. Perhaps decide upon what you want to achieve by the end of the month to feel like you've actually taken a legitimate first step towards personal independence. Decide that you want to develop some solutions that will continually move you down the road of independence. Do it now and do it with conviction.

If You're Serious about beginning a journey "Back to the Land", Start with the following videos:

Back to the Land, Day 1

Back to the Land, Day 2

Back to the Land, Day 3

Back to the Land, Day 4

Back to the Land, Day 5

Carry On

Adventure Quote: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" ~ Chinese Proverb

Resources

Make sure to visit our website regularly to see new products and resources.

www.thecampfiretrail.com

YouTube Channel: The Campfire Trail