January 1, 2026
Day 1,553 of the Adventure
Today, there's wood cutting on the agenda. It's January first, and the temperatures are a mild 60 degrees here in the Southern Missouri Ozarks. Between two woodsheds, we have nearly three years of firewood stacked and stored. About half of it is seasoned and ready to warm the cabin. Firewood cutting, splitting, stacking and storage is one basic part of "Life Prepping" for us. Notice I did not refer to it as simply "Prepping", "Survival Prepping" or "Apocalypse Prepping". The connotation of those terms tends to slip a person into the category of "Crazy, Doomsday Survivalist". No, Life Prepping to me is simply surviving present day life as we have come to know it. Life that includes job uncertainty, astronomical costs of food, energy, insurance and everything else it takes to just simply provide for the essentials of life. It also includes the uncertainty of civil unrest, terrorist threats, health crisis, the impacts of crime, both violent and fraudulent. It feels as if or government has no desire or will to recognize that massive spending, deficits and national debt mean anything to normal people. All of this has an accumulative effect that creates a sense of hopelessness when it comes to seeing a pathway forward towards living a normal life. In all honesty, much of the challenges facing us are simply too far removed from daily life that we don't have time or energy for them, even though they are important. When it's a struggle to simply keep food on the table, the heat bills paid, the rent or mortgage payments current, all of that other stuff just doesn't make it onto our radar. Is there any answer to all of it? I believe there is, BUT...... it's not something a casual new years resolution will fix!
How did we get here? Obviously, there are many influences beyond our control that have contributed to the mess we find ourselves in. Most, in fact, are things we have no control over at all. Nevertheless, even though we can't control the state of affairs we find ourselves in, we do have control over how we respond to all of it. I see two factors present when it comes to finding a way forward or not. The first is not looking far enough ahead to see the storms on the horizon in the first place. The second is not acknowledging the reality that nobody is going to fix it or change it for you. Simply believing that everything's going to eventually work its way out and it will all be better is not a plan. At least, not a plan for improvement. It's a "do nothing and hope for the best plan" and that, in large part, is what gets us into a situation like this in the first place. If this is true, then what is the solution?
To address the first issue of not looking far enough ahead to see the handwriting on the wall of where life is taking us, start looking ahead. Do you see a positive path forward if you change nothing? Do you see yourself in a better life position two or five years from now if nothing changes. Do you believe that everything that's beyond your control will suddenly begin to improve? Will artificial intelligence suddenly go away and restore jobs that are being lost to technology? Will the national debt and deficit spending by the government correct itself? Will terrorist threats go away? Will food supply sources become more efficient and less expensive? Will the companies that control distribution suddenly decide to pass the savings or profits along to us consumers? Will energy prices suddenly begin to become cheaper with the savings get passed to us consumers? Will the national electrical grid improve overnight and become less vulnerable to a crash? Will the increased demand on electrical consumption from data centers be addressed in a way that does not actually lead to higher consumer costs and greater fragility in the system? Will anybody actually fix the healthcare crisis? If so, who? The government? The drug companies? The healthcare provider system? If you believe that any of this will look better two, five, ten or more years from now, enjoy your delusions! Follow the breadcrumbs for the last 20 years. We are where we are now, precisely due to the trajectory of decisions made by people who call the shots on a national and global scale and those are things we cannot control. If you think we can..... again, enjoy your delusions.
If you don't see those things improving for you in the near, or far future, then you need to consider the second factor that will keep you stuck in a degrading quality and difficulty of life. That factor is not admitting to the reality that someone else is going to fix things and make them better on your behalf. So, my question is first, what does life look like for you when you look far enough down the road? Good, bad, better or worse if you do nothing but wait for someone else to improve it? Second, if you believe the natural course of things is going to continually degrade, making life more and more difficult, are you willing to admit that you may need to take an "If it's going to be, it's up to me" approach to improving your life outlook? I believe the importance of these two questions will literally make the difference between thriving or surviving in the future. The hardest part will be tsking that deep breath and saying to yourself, "Yep, I don't see a positive pathway forward that does not include a major change in the way I've been approaching life".
To be certain, nothing you can personally change is likely to have any effect on national, global or even local economic or security conditions. Whatever future you begin to build for yourself is mostly going to have the limited effects on your life specifically. Meaning, don't expect that you'll change the world, only your small corner of it. Even then, outside influences will continually press against your resistance to them. I encourage you to strongly consider the ramifications of the "do nothing and hope for the best" approach to life that so many are engaged in currently. If you have a hard time with that approach and are ready to take a serious look at a different path, watch for the next installment where we will begin to unpack a bold alternative strategy. It will have its roots anchored in "Buy Land and Build Skills" approach. We'll be looking at the subject of gaining control over housing, energy, food security, independence from many of the sources we currently find to be "essential" to life. How to build community with others who share the same goals and have discovered many of the solutions you are looking for. It's going to be an interesting journey and an interesting 2026.
If you feel drawn to the lifestyle I've described, make sure to stay in touch, check out videos and other resources we have to offer. Regardless of how you choose to connect up, we'd be honored to have you as part of the tribe.
Carry On
Adventure Quote: "Here's to having an excellent adventure and may the stopping never start!"
Resources
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