Focus on small circles.
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It seems like lately, all the news is bad news and every day we’re losing more autonomy over our lives. 2020 has been “interesting” so far, to put it mildly. When the world seems so completely out of control, it’s important to get a handle on the things you can.
This is advice straight from Selco.
Operate in “small circles” (your family, prepper group, network of friends). Learn useful skills, meet good and interesting people (in prepper terms).
That small circle is what it is all about and what is important when SHTF. Sorry, but your political opinion and worries about state policies are worthless, and can not change anything big- it is the big circle, and it is important only in terms of looking and recognizing signs of future events, so you may recognize the correct moment for bugging out for example.
Do not be pulled into general fear and hate because it clouds your judgment and it simply wastes your time.
Do not be pulled into it. (source)
And of course, he’s right. This isn’t Selco’s first SHTF rodeo. While it’s important to stay informed, your influence on a grand scale is pretty limited. You can’t personally change the way the government is handling the virus. You can only adapt your response to theirs. If you disagree with the handling, you may have choices to make – like bugging out, getting out of their scope of influence, or staying under the radar. But you probably can’t change the policies themselves.
So while everybody else is getting worked up about yet another misstep during a White House press conference, the campaign of Creepy Uncle Joe, and quarantines, take the information you need to make decisions and then disregard the rest of it. It’s not worth your time. It’s better to spend your energy on making things better within your small circle.
Take a look at your current income and then adapt your budget to fit it. I’m not talking about the income you made Before. (At this point, I think Before is a term that needs to be capitalized.)
I’m talking about what you’re bringing in right now. Sure, we all hope to walk right back into our former positions and put this all behind us, but I think that is very unlikely – and more so the longer the economy stays shut down. Our country is in real economic trouble and I don’t foresee it improving or “going back to normal” any time soon.
So it’s important to work with what is true right now – not what was true or what you hope will be true tomorrow.
Can you afford your bills on your current income while living your current lifestyle? Do an audit of your finances and make adjustments as necessary.
Recognize that you may not come out of this with your credit intact. Try not to worry too much about this because you’ll be in good company. I know it sucks when you’ve spent years building a good credit rating, but in the grand scheme of things, your credit rating is of minimal importance when compared with “do we have enough money for food?” and “can I pay rent this month?” Prioritize the money you have to make the most important choices.
It’s easy to slip into bad patterns when every day feels like a weekend. For those who still go to work, your normal routine of taking the kids to activities, going out for dinner or a drink, or hitting the gym is no longer an option. For those who are furloughed, your routine is now completely thrown off. For those who are working from home, you’re now trying to take care of your kids, being interrupted by your partner, and conquer your workload.
But…you can control how you spend this time.
Don’t get sucked into all-day marathons of Netflix binge-watching. Don’t spend all day every day in your pajamas. Don’t just sit around eating junk food and bemoaning your fate.
Create a new routine for yourself and adhere to it with discipline. I’ve worked from home for a decade now and for me, a schedule is essential. I also have a work-reward system, for lack of a better term. I get up early, before anyone else in the house, and get the most essential business tasks done first. Then I take a short break for some food and conversation. I do not sit down in front of the television for “just one episode” of whatever we’re streaming. After we eat, I work for a few more hours, and then I attend to household tasks including making dinner. After dinner, and only then, will I stream any shows or movies.
Your daily schedule may look very different but I urge you to get the essential things done first and put off the relaxing part of your day until those tasks are complete.
It can also help to keep part of your previous schedule – get up, have a shower, and get dressed, even if you aren’t going anywhere. Set work hours for adults and school hours for children. And of course, don’t forget to leave some time for fun.
If you aren’t working from home, focus on tasks that make you better prepared. Start some seeds, get your garden ready, organize your supplies, do some canning, and test out equipment to make sure it works in a way that is efficient.
Do everything you can to keep yourself healthy.
If you have a pre-existing condition, strive to get things under control to the best of your ability. The healthier you are, the more your body will be able to fight off any virus you might come into contact with at some point in the future.
It isn’t just people with pre-existing mental health problems who are struggling right now.
Your state of mind has a huge effect on your resilience. You need to treat it with the same importance you treat your physical well-being.
First of all, stop thinking that you’re being weak or fragile by being bothered by these horrific events. I’ve seen people commenting that they aren’t “tough” enough to handle all of the awful things we’re being bombarded with by the media.
It has nothing whatsoever to do with toughness, weakness, or fragility. If you are a caring human being, of course these things get to you. It’s natural and, bonus, a sign that you aren’t a sociopath. This isn’t to say that people who can put some mental distance between themselves and the events are unstable – it is just to say that there is nothing wrong or weak about those who are overwhelmed by it.
We all want to be well-informed about the goings-on in the world. That’s why you’re on a preparedness site. That’s why you are paying attention to this. You don’t want to be one of those oblivious, reality TV show aficionados whose form of entertainment actually has nothing to do with reality.
But how do you balance this when you’re feeling horribly beaten down by the things in the news?
We live in a world in which information is constantly at our fingertips. This can be very unhealthy unless you control your consumption of it.
We are living through historic times that will no doubt be analyzed for decades or even centuries if human beings are around long enough. The things occurring right now like the pandemic, the lockdowns, and the collapse of economies around the world are changing everything and a lot of those changes will lead to even more difficult times ahead.
Always remember there are things within your control. Cultivate things that are positive and reduce your exposure to things that are negative. Remember that you can’t control the huge, horrible events in this world, but you can control your response to them by focusing on your preparations and your mental well-being.
You can choose to stay out of these arguments that nobody wins. You aren’t going to change the minds of people calling others names on the internet. You aren’t going to enlighten people who aren’t seeking that kind of knowledge. If your own well-being is at risk, take a step back. Observe it all from a place of distance. As the old saying goes, those who wrestle with pigs get muddy too. Stay out of the mud and you will feel far less overwhelmed.
Make yourself a list of the projects you want to tackle, the things that bring you a sense of peace, and the tasks you can do to be better prepared. Make these things your focus.
Right now, as far as “apocalypses” go, most of us aren’t doing too badly. We have access to food, running water, power, relative peace, and the internet. Things may very well get worse but you can have a plan for that.
Let go of the stuff you can’t control and focus on the stuff you can control. Don’t dwell non-stop on the bad stuff. It’s as simple – and perhaps as difficult – as that.
What are the things within your control on which you’re focusing? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Daisy Luther writes about current events, preparedness, frugality, voluntaryism, and the pursuit of liberty on her website, The Organic Prepper. She is widely republished across alternative media and she curates all the most important news links on her aggregate site, PreppersDailyNews.com. Daisy is the best-selling author of 4 books and runs a small digital publishing company. You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.
Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, gun-toting blogger who writes about current events, preparedness, frugality, voluntaryism, and the pursuit of liberty on her website, The Organic Prepper. She is widely republished across alternative media and she curates all the most important news links on her aggregate site, PreppersDailyNews.com.
Daisy is the best-selling author of 4 books and lives in the mountains of Virginia with her two daughters and an ever-growing menagerie. You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.
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Focus on small circles.
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