# My head hurts..



## HoppeEL4 (Dec 29, 2010)

I want to be able to return to the days of being adult yet naïve to the world and it's troubles. You all remember that time in your life? Just getting started in life, you simply did not notice most of what went on around you.

It is getting so tiring and overwhelming at times. It sometimes feel like when you are walking in the sand to get to somewhere fast....it is so hard and so exhausting.

I miss that time of innocence, I miss that feeling nothing bad can happen. It often makes me want to disconnect from everything, but yet I would then go crazy with worry about what important piece of news that could next affect my family seriously, would happen and I would not know.

The world was our oyster once, till we grew up in our adult lives and realized our reality was nothing what we thought it was, and saw it for what it is. It can be really dark down this path of "mature" adulthood. I wonder if this is what Adam and Eve felt like after they did eat of the tree of life and had to leave the Garden of Eden?


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## JustCliff (May 21, 2011)

I know the feeling. Maybe even in a different way. Not only would it be nice to be oblivious to a great deal of the things we see but even for the things most people never see. I sit here at 4:30 am, at work. I just finished uploading my most recent body pictures and thought I would stop by for a visit with friends I have never met but would somehow understand how I feel about most things in life.

If I can't go back, at least I do have somewhere to go where I can feel "normal" about the things I do and the way I think about things. I think im going to go home early and get some sleep.


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## talob (Sep 16, 2009)

HoppeEL4 said:


> I want to be able to return to the days of being adult yet naïve to the world and it's troubles. You all remember that time in your life? Just getting started in life, you simply did not notice most of what went on around you.
> 
> It is getting so tiring and overwhelming at times. It sometimes feel like when you are walking in the sand to get to somewhere fast....it is so hard and so exhausting.
> 
> ...


I sure know what your talking about, I remember those days, sometimes I wish I could just stick my head in the sand and pretend the world's a pretty place, but with your head in the sand your ass is sticking up in the air and you just know somebody is gonna come along and.......


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## Jason (Jul 25, 2009)

Yep, back when putting a tank of gas in your old car and getting a case of beer for the weekend were your biggest worries. Those days are sure gone for me, too.

But this shows that we do have our eyes open and we are watching and learning, and will not be caught unawares.


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## cnsper (Sep 20, 2012)

Hell that was high school. You were not officially an adult yet... LOL


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## Jason (Jul 25, 2009)

Good point.


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## biobacon (Aug 20, 2012)

Each day I sure wish that I could return to that world as well. But after my neighbor did what he did I have come to see that this statement is true, the price of freedom is constant vigilance. As I write this Im watching ESPN and these two football players are talking about they would rather not protect themselves so they don't have to worry about doing so. We have the same option, we can take the steps to secure our world even knowing that when the day comes we may still fail, or we can choose not to knowing that for the most part we may never need to worry about when the SHTF. Its a choice each of us has to make but we do each of us have to make it and we must live with it because if we don't we will not be happy. If one wants to be a sheep he or she will not be happy being a sheepdog or wolf and vice versa. Its up to each of us to decide the life we want to live and we should not put those down who want to live in ignorant bliss as maybe they are happier then us most of the time. BUT you know who you are and what you believe, you know you will not be happy being one of those people ether. Go to yahoo.com and you can read the headlines, your feel better about the choice you made.


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## HoppeEL4 (Dec 29, 2010)

It is just that loss of innocence. I remember feeling it and not realizing how scary and ugly the reality of our world is. 

My biggest final moment of true reality was in 2008. Although I knew things were not as they should be in our country, and of course we had all seen the towers go down, Oklahoma City, Ruby Ridge, Waco (the handling of both, the potential corruption behind the last two), but 2008 was that last bit that brought the whole wall of innocence finally down.

Some days you do just have to turn the news off (as though any of them are telling us all that's really going on anyways), and do something tedious and mind numbing.


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## Lake Windsong (Nov 27, 2009)

Instead of tedious and mind numbing, find something worthwhile and meaningful. Appreciate the little things, find joy in family moments, and know that your efforts are invested in maintaining a more secure life for your loved ones in an unstable world.
And yes, turn the 24/7 'news' off, you won't miss it. Stay in tune with world events, but don't let the pace of our media make you feel like you are playing catch up in a race to some dismal end. From the time you are born, to the time you die, you are either living, or you are dying. Perspective. Enjoy the journey.


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

HoppeEL4 said:


> I want to be able to return to the days of being adult yet naïve to the world and it's troubles. You all remember that time in your life? Just getting started in life, you simply did not notice most of what went on around you.
> 
> It is getting so tiring and overwhelming at times. It sometimes feel like when you are walking in the sand to get to somewhere fast....it is so hard and so exhausting.
> 
> ...


Never had those days, I started worrying when I was about 10, lol. By the time I was 18 I had saved enough for my first house, I was so worried about interest rates etc. When I was 20 I'd sold that first house and bought 40 acres and started building a cabin, no mortgage. I've always wanted to feel I could support myself and worried that the world may not always be this easy to live in.


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## pandamonium (Feb 6, 2011)

Yup, ignorance is bliss!! But, and this is a big but, i prefer to. Know what is on the horizon and be both physically and mentally prepared for what may come along. I stopped worrying about things long ago, i don't worry about things I can't change, only search for ways to deal with as many situations as I can forsee. I find it less stressful than worrying. I choose not to one of he ignorant ones. I will deal with whatever needs dealing with. 
I personally don't miss those days.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

Being caught up in the doom and gloom of the world is a choice that people make freely. I have spent the last 20+ years seeing the worst humanity has to offer; telling family members that their loves ones are gone, holding the hands of victims and stepping over body parts to get to torsos to check (needlessly) for a pulse. But I don't walk this planet stuck in a loop of pessimism, negativity and hate. I have survived dozens and dozens of predicted SHTF events that never happened, a multitude of elected officials who would surely destroy America and an ever changing culture that will no doubt will result in the death of us all. But I am still here. I have existed under the constant threat of zombies, effeminate vampires, sheeple, terrorists, the collapse of the dollar, solar flares, EMP's, killer bees, meteors and my mother-in-law. And somehow I still wake up each morning and live my life. 

And here's how I do it: I don't watch or get caught up in what news media outlets have to offer (which we all know is 90% BS anyway). I don't let every political issue become so personal that it disturbs my peace of mind. I live each day thankful and happy for all the wonderful blessings I have in my life. I don't fret or needlessly worry about those things I cannot control in the world. I look for reminders in the faces of the young what life is really all about and the innocence that still exists in youth. I look for reminders in the faces of the old who braved the world for many years and beat the odds. I don't take for granted that the life I lead is privileged when compared to many and that a lot of the issues I face are petty in comparison. I rely on faith, faith that gives me hope, hope that gives me peace and peace that reminds me that the doom and gloom of the world is optional. And I choose to opt out. 

Yes I am a prepper. But I don't prep for the apocalypse or armageddon, I prep because as a Man I am responsible for the protection and welfare of my family. I do not prep out of fear or the belief that we are only moments away from the end of the world. I prep with a constant expectation that I will never need to use my preps outside of the normal rotation of stock. I prep for the same reason I keep a spare tire in my car, because even though I inspect my car before each trip it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. I live with a constant expectation of good, and the good just keeps on coming my way.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

I miss the time when my late first wife and I were married, we were young and she was still in good health. And we thought we'd be together for a lifetime. Not the time when she got sicker and sicker and life seemed like a roller coaster ride through hell and every time I thought I was getting off it would start again. Even 20 years after she died, and 18 years of being remarried, I still miss her smile and the sound of her voice. I still miss hugging her. I can't count all the dreams I've had where she was alive and I was absolutely thrilled. I'm as happy in my second marriage as I was in my first. I know it sounds weird to a lot of people but I feel like I should have two wives and one of them is missing.


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## HoppeEL4 (Dec 29, 2010)

BillS, I think it is a good thing to have loved so completely without guilt. I would think less of a man who did not have sad moments missing a first wife (If I wound up being the second) who had passed away, then I would be worried about his ability to feel emotions (sociopathic).

Sentry18, I am the woman who is having to prep and do all I can to keep us safe. My husband just does not get the level of insecurity we are facing in this country and he basically has no clue what is really going on around us in the world and our own nation. I sometimes think he chooses to not be aware. That's where my "headache" comes from, the prepping, thinking ahead on my own.


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

The reset is coming.careful what you wish for y'all.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

> Sentry18, I am the woman who is having to prep and do all I can to keep us safe. My husband just does not get the level of insecurity we are facing in this country and he basically has no clue what is really going on around us in the world and our own nation. I sometimes think he chooses to not be aware. That's where my "headache" comes from, the prepping, thinking ahead on my own.


My spouse does not prep, but she does not interfere with my prepping either. She does not feel any sense of insecurity in our future, and quite frankly neither do I. How we choose to think will result in how we feel, how we live, who we love, etc., etc., etc. Being an optimist does not make one ignorant, it just means they choose not to give in to dread and despair. Perhaps you should try and meet him halfway and vice versa. Then you will both be on the same page.


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## KaiWinters (Jan 4, 2013)

I think most of us enjoy thinking about and wishing for a return to life when it was easy and carefree for us.
I too think about it from time to time but I don't dwell on it.
If todays "troubles" wear on you try putting yourself in the shoes of others whose carefree memories never existed...Too many living in Africa suffering all their lives with drought, starvation, sickness, constant warfare, child soldiers, rape as a constant in everyday life. Too many countries in the mid east suffering terrorism, warfare, corruption on a scale we can't imagine, same in Africa, fleeing the country and living in a refugee camp...Some European countries suffering corruption and no work, having to leave your birth country just to find a job paying crap wages and lucky to get it.

The list can go on and for many it does.
Even in our country despite the problems we are trying to deal with, our society as a whole is much more stable than many periods...The Industrial Revolution...working crazy hours and days in a mill under brutal conditions...immigration during the 1800's to build railroads, etc and the brutal conditions that existed...slavery, civil war, the aftermath of the civil war, tuberculosis, polio, etc...race segregation/riots...the stock market crash and the Great Depression, The Dust Bowl, Vietnam war/the draft/civil rights and violations...etc...

Compared to past periods we are in good shape...arguably...What we have in our favor that many other people in other countries don't is our ability to change our conditions through the ballot box...WE voted for our current state of affairs...maybe not you or me specifically but American Citizens that are registered to vote change our country and we do it quite often compared to most other countries. Unfortunately the majority votes are leaning towards the "gimme bunch" wanting more and more without care about where the money is going to come from to pay for it...
We can change that by having the majority tend towards a more conservative bent but it seems that the "conservatives" are their own biggest enemy by voting for their individual desires, religious, birth control, etc, and preferences rather than the overall conservatism as a whole. It certainly doesn't help when many of our "conservative" leaders are really liberals in disguise voting for immigration amnesty policies, gun control, etc. though they say they are against these policies.

Overall while we are tending toward difficulties we are doing ok and life is pretty darn good when compared to other peoples and countries...keep that in mind when feeling down.


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## Viking (Mar 16, 2009)

I think that a wish for less troublesome times, an easier life is probably a part of all who are of a frame of mind to survive whatever may come at us. We see and hear the bad things going on around us and sometimes it directly effects us. It's nothing new, even as a kid back in the 1950's I remember people wanting a private tropical island to escape to, reality can really bite and lays heavy on the psyche. But when given a burden of knowing the path that our so called leaders are taking us on and what the end result may well lead to, if we are honest with ourselves, we must pass on to others what we have learned. Not to cause fear but to pry others from complacency, we see the distractions they wrap themselves up in because they feel that they cannot make a difference in the outcome of things. But I've seen changes happen in people I've talked to over the years so I know that the burden I've been given is not in vain. Believe me, I'd love my family and I to live in an undisturbed world, but the world is not letting me do that and so I keep on doing what I'm doing knowing that probably no more than 5% of those I give of my wisdom will ever listen and do something for themselves. I also know that I may never hear of a changed life of someone I've passed information too and so what may seem fruitless to what you are saying to others don't be discouraged, just keep on doing what you are doing.


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## mojo4 (Feb 19, 2012)

As a child I was raised on conspiracies and the surrounding issues. My mom never wanted me to be unaware. Also being firm Bible believing Christians she wanted me to know prophecy since she believed (and I do too) that the predicted end of days would happen during my lifetime. So I've never really had the uninformed bliss of innocence but I don't think that my life has been any less enjoyable due to ignorance. I know that times will change but I will enjoy this time as much as possible just as I will find the times ahead to have moments of fun and pleasure in between any craziness involved.


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

HoppeEL4 said:


> My husband just does not get the level of insecurity we are facing in this country and he basically has no clue what is really going on around us in the world and our own nation. I sometimes think he chooses to not be aware. That's where my "headache" comes from, the prepping, thinking ahead on my own.


I get that totally. You are not alone. Not that my husband is unaware - he completely thinks a collapse is coming. He just chooses not to do anything about it.

I understand your headache. It is a lot on one person's shoulders, and would be nice to have a partner.


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## VoorTrekker (Oct 7, 2012)

I believe it's called emotional maturity. When I was 16 the big deal adults were concerned about, the U.S. sold India wheat, India sold that wheat to the USSR, who in turn sold it the U.S. I was like, "so what? big deal...?"

After the energy crunch and the jobs exportation frenzy, my awareness and emotional maturity became acute. I never really had carefree innocent days in my youth. 

It's only natural to be concerned about general safety and the status of the nation and even the world. There's a word for keeping a healthy positive composure (can't think ot it right now).


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## HoppeEL4 (Dec 29, 2010)

Goshengirl, my husband is sort of blissfully ignorant. We could talk about it one day, he seems genuinely concerned and the next day it is as though we never talked about it. He is basically focusing only on the day he is in, and just sets aside any other information because it is too much effort on his part (since I know him better, that is what it is). He leaves the stuff at home ALL up to me, and prefers not to have to deal with the "hassles", his famous phrase "what a pain in the a**, I am not dealing with that", and he doesn't.

We talked just the other day about Oregon's long overdue suspected massive earthquake (they think we are long overdue for an 8.0 or larger). I mentioned we had a well, loss of power means no water. An earthquake could also contaminate our well too, since there are septic tanks above it (although it is down 160 feet, still we have to assume it could happen). I can guarantee that although he was concerned about it yesterday, but in the coming months he will have set it aside in his mind and pretty much expected I will handle it so he does not have to. I used to think he actually forgot things, and wondered if he was having problems with his memory, but found he will recall the conversation, but then say something like "so, what am I supposed to do about it?" (meaning he is busy I needed to be putting a plan in action).

It would feel less stressful if there was someone to share it with. Not one family member is working with me at all, I am the only one, within my household, and as well, within my own immediate family, prepping at all. When I try talking to my adult kids, and siblings (not fanatically), they agree things are tough, but seem to think it will play itself out and they do not have to prep for anything. I have told them ideally I hope so too, but would prefer to prep just in case it does not play out the way we all hope for. No local preppers to connect with either.


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## Viking (Mar 16, 2009)

HoppeEL4 sorry that he doesn't want to take any responsibilities but then that's not uncommon in this age of reliance upon government for so many things. If people don't want to hear about things it's generally because they don't want to be held accountable if things go south. What it really amounts to in my understanding is like the Biblical story of the watchman, if the watchman saw the enemy coming and didn't warn the village the blood would be on his head and if the watchman warned the village and the people of the village did nothing then the blood would be on the people of the village and not the watchman because he had carried out his responsibilities. Sadly, it seems, no one wants to be accountable for anything anymore.


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## HoppeEL4 (Dec 29, 2010)

Viking, I am not sure where his thinking comes from. He was in the military for 11 years...We were not together till after that fact, and I would have thought that would have made him a very proactive person, but it seems the opposite. Maybe they did too much for him? Maybe it is his personality mixed with too long under dear old "Uncle Sam" being his caretaker?


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## mojo4 (Feb 19, 2012)

HoppeEL4 said:


> Viking, I am not sure where his thinking comes from. He was in the military for 11 years...We were not together till after that fact, and I would have thought that would have made him a very proactive person, but it seems the opposite. Maybe they did too much for him? Maybe it is his personality mixed with too long under dear old "Uncle Sam" being his caretaker?


Well don't beat him up too bad. In my opinion, there are planners, scammers and mules. Planners see long term trends and react accordingly to place themselves in the best possible place to survive and thrive. Scammers see the event and always manage to weasle out of things in the nick of time and always try to take advantage in any situation. Mules just do whatever they are told. Its always easiest and best to just follow orders because mules have found out things tend to go bad when they try to manage and be in charge. Unfortunately in the military there tends to be a lot of mules. Free thinking is generally discouraged and planners and scammers quickly get frustrated with the pace. So understand what the people who surround you are and work with them accordingly. If they are mules just give them lots of job lists to get done. Chances are they will succeed. If they are scammers keep an eye on them and limit their exposure to financials or other high trust jobs. If they are planners (as most here are) don't worry, they will usually announce themselves and fight for control!!


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## prepperware (Jul 28, 2012)

I try to stay as informed as possible.. so not to be taken by surprise and totally unprepared. There is a fine balance to maintain between enough information and not enough and that line is always in question. On which side of that line to error? I go in cycles... as engaged as I can be and sometime as disengaged as I can be. There are only so many things you can be prepared for in a general way since we can not foretell the future. But there are basic preps that are common to all needs.. water, food, shelter, security etc. There is a point, you have to trust in God, or what ever you believe is the greater power than our selves. I'm in that stage of learning how to let go of those things I can't control.. And engaging in the things I can and need to control. It seems to get harder.. I don't always know if I'm doing what or all I can/should be doing... I guess that is where the faith part comes in.. that doing all I can at the time, means I'm where I'm suppose to be at that time.


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## HoppeEL4 (Dec 29, 2010)

Mojo, interesting take on it. I could say mule, but he was not the usual military grunt, he was Air Force, a Staff Sargent for communications base...

Now I could see the idea that he was always just doing what he was told by someone higher up, and that's how he also spent his entire childhood (teens too), with parents who were very controlling, fo example, their beds had to be made a specific way, with pj's folded certain way right in the middle of the bottom of the bed, with slippers right underneath (does anyone feel like they are suffocating reading this? When he told me I did), if not, mom would undo bed make them re-do it, dad was the force behind the rules. So I can get the idea that he is the follower because of this all. 

On the other hand, me...last of six kids (four older brothers, oldest was sister), both parents worked full time, summertime we picked berries in morning for local farms, and rest of the day I ran "wild" (barefoot) in the woods with friends, ran (small) town with friends...parents were not controlling people, guess the six of us learned a lot of independence.


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## mojo4 (Feb 19, 2012)

Too often parents treat their kids like soldiers forcing obedience on them and thinking they are teaching discipline. It usually squashes the creative and free thinking sides of them. My dad was pretty smart. He kept invoking my ownership over things and making me fully responsible for jobs but free to do them how I thought best. Most of the time I ended up doing it how he wanted but I needed to learn the easiest way usually wasn't my best idea. It helped develop problem solving skills and develop dependability. He was one clever dude! Hope I do as well with my girls and he did with us.


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

My son has complete ownership over his things; he ha his chores to do and as long as they get done everyday, he is free to do them his way. He took his own money to the book fair and picked out his own books. 

His school has implemented a new 'discipline program'--- if you make less than 80% on a test, you get detention. The problem with it? You get NO additional instruction on the material, just the test over again.


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## BlueShoe (Aug 7, 2010)

(1) The time we long for is the time before the f3d decayed our economy to a point beyond failure and on borrowed time. This wouldn't have happened if there was no private bank in between us and our currency.

(2) And it's before the media ruled our thoughts. You can get some freedom and reprieve if you turn off the corporate media stations. It takes a couple of weeks to feel better. But after you do this and realize you're more relaxed, turn the radio back on one of those radio stations and even the commercials will make you feel edgy. It's intentional. It's the same as milk producers playing hard rock music to dairy cows. Produce, produce, produce. Haste, haste, haste. Hurry, hurry, hurry. Spend, spend, spend.

(3) That time was also when communists didn't run the USA from DC. We're becoming the USSR and it didn't just start in 2008. What's different is they knocked down the walls to let other people in because we got too uppity. Actually it's not even coming from DC. It's coming from the international community, pressuring us to become like them.


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## musketjim (Dec 7, 2011)

We all had a choice between the red pill and the blue pill. We chose the pill that showed us how far down the rabbit hole goes. There is no going back.:beercheer:


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## HoppeEL4 (Dec 29, 2010)

Funny jim, seems like a lot of Americans are trying to find their way out of the rabbit hole. It can feel like someone keeps trying to kick dirt over our heads to keep us down there.

Mojo, I agree, I was from a family of six, the last, both parents worked and expected us to help out, and to be responsible. One time I recall, my brother and cousin (he lived with us, when my aunt died, as a teen) bought what they thought was pot from some kid at school, and our dad found it, took them right down to the police station to talk to the police chief. He felt they got punishment enough by being brought to him and being ripped off...seems the "pot" was nothing more than pulverized maple leaves!! They never did it again. Our parents believed in making us accountable. They did not focus on made beds and perfectly folded clothes. They did expect clean rooms, homework done and behaving ourselves.

Once we were old enough we were expected to do some local berry picking for our own summer spending money and of course to buy those extras in school clothes the parents of six would not spend on. 

I have seen friends with kids raise them in a way I could not understand. Allowing kids to watch shows like "Cops" but not let them watch certain sitcoms (they claimed it was content, but those cop shows would show prostitutes, drug deals, etc..), or cut them 100% off of anything sweet (I mean anything), expecting to be able to manage that and if a kid slipped up and ate something sweet, would punish them...To me, some unrealistic ideas of what makes a kid a better adult. 

I think when you take away a child's ability to choose (within reason) and make some of their own decisions, they grow up to be adults who cannot think independently, and wind up not making good choices, often floating around aimlessly in life.


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## Viking (Mar 16, 2009)

musketjim said:


> We all had a choice between the red pill and the blue pill. We chose the pill that showed us how far down the rabbit hole goes. There is no going back.:beercheer:


Ah yes the Red Pill. Since Obama's first term I have come to realize that fiction is no longer fiction. Many years ago I was ridiculed for reading fiction, "Brave New World", "1984" and others and now it all makes sense, even children's stories have meaning because there is truth to them. Humpty Dumpty, Pied Piper, Wizard of Oz were in many ways prophetic. If I had swallowed the Blue Pill my conscience would not give me peace.


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## LongRider (May 8, 2012)

HoppeEL4 said:


> I want to be able to return to the days of being adult yet naïve to the world and it's troubles. You all remember that time in your life? Just getting started in life, you simply did not notice most of what went on around you.


My first cache went into the grounds when I was 17 back in 1973. My mom had grown up in Nazi Europe. My Grandfather was gunned down by the National Guard. His wife and kids, my Grandmother, father, uncles and aunts were put in concentration camps here in Washington State for being Japanese. My Bros were being shot killed and imprisoned in South Dakota for praying. The National Guard was again killing Americans this time students for protesting the war. So as an adult I really do not recall any of that naive innocence. I have always known that our government is the enemy of Free People as all governments have always been.


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## HoppeEL4 (Dec 29, 2010)

I'd suppose not in those circumstance's LongRider, and no one could hardly blame you for feeling that way from minute one you were aware of things around you.

Since our government did it once before (imprisoned Americans on their own soil), it does not seem far fetched to believe they will readily do it again. I remember that moment I found out it was something they have been planning for some time, it was as if the air had been sucked out of me. I cannot imagine actually having had it done like you have witnessed in your family.


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## LongRider (May 8, 2012)

HoppeEL4 said:


> I'd suppose not in those circumstance's LongRider, and no one could hardly blame you for feeling that way from minute one you were aware of things around you.
> 
> Since our government did it once before (imprisoned Americans on their own soil), it does not seem far fetched to believe they will readily do it again. I remember that moment I found out it was something they have been planning for some time, it was as if the air had been sucked out of me. I cannot imagine actually having had it done like you have witnessed in your family.


That wake up moment came for me when a bro lifted his shirt to reveal scars from being whipped for praying, while at an Indian Boarding School. Cat O Nine Tail scars crisscrossing his back. How can anyone even imagine Cat O Nine Tail scars on a human being in 1970's America. For praying? Like you it took my breath away, most of his family going back generations had similar scars for similar reasons. Than again when I first went to PineRidge to visit his family and saw the fresh bullet wounds received when the BIA and FBI would charge a sweat lodge opening fire on whomever was inside. Within a few years one of the brothers that adopted me into their family was left for dead under his brothers murdered body because he was a spiritual leader. Decades later the FBI admitted 


FBI said:


> Although assailants were identified by eyewitnesses, brother Vernal Cross, wounded in ambush, was briefly charged with crime. No further investigation.
> Findings: This was a color of law-law enforcement brutality case involving two BIA police officers who allegedly shot victims.


That and Wounded Knee II is what motivated me to put my first cache into the ground. But none of that is new. It has been the nature of our nation and mankind for that matter, from the beginning of time. It was just my personal wake up call.

Rereading my post I can see how it may appear that I have lived my life under a cloud of doom and gloom waiting for the other foot to fall. Rather I believe my awareness freed me. Inspired me to live, life ready to die, without regrets, by living life to its fullest. By a code of my own choosing. That I have done and continue to do. The lessons my family learned and prepping has been a way to assure that there was always a back door available should anything go south. Freeing me from unnecessary concern about consequences, should the government have unreasonable objections to me, my conduct or way of life. I never have lived as other think I should. As my mom taught me based upon her experience I have always paid cash so that I am beholding to no man. Always kept a reserve of cash so I could go as I pleased. When my friends lived in nice homes or apartments filled with nice stuff in hock up to their eye balls. Terrified of loosing their jobs or taking a risk. I lived in an Airstream and Flagship Owens both bought and paid for. Cash in hand. To go as I pleased. Able to tell my bosses to go screw themselves, as I saw fit. Take a risk. Risk it all. Invest it all in a business. Than sell it when I did not like the who was looking at me in the mirror.

As one of my favorite Hendrix says



Jimi Hendrix said:


> If the sun refused to shine,
> I don't mind, I don't mind.
> If the mountains fell in the sea,
> Let it be, it ain't me.
> ...


The point being we never have had control of the world around us. Nor have the ability to alter it to what we think it should be. The only thing we really have control over our own lives. I think the sooner we accept that reality the sooner we can become truly free human beings. So I can choose to live it the way I want to. Being self sustaining allows me to do that. It is after all really not about when or if the SHTF. It is about my quality of life now. For me, being self sustaining living in harmony with the natural world, providing sustenance, comfort, and safety, along with some degree of adventure, joy and pleasure for me and mine is what it is all about. If allowed to do so I will live out my life in peace, content to do. Like Bilbo venturing out on my iron steed adventure when the mood strikes me.

If things do change. If the worst possible occurs to the degree that I must defend my liberty and freedom. So be it. What better way for a man to meet his Creator, than as a warrior bloody from standing up for what is right and just.

As Tecumseh said



Tecumseh said:


> So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
> Trouble no one about their religion;
> respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours.
> Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.
> ...


In short I think prepping, being self sustaining is not about fear of what disaster may strike. But about being free, being happy and content. Living life the way I want to.


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

LongRider said:


> The point being we never have had control of the world around us. Nor have the ability to alter it to what we think it should be. The only thing we really have control over our own lives. I think the sooner we accept that reality the sooner we can become truly free human beings. So I can choose to live it the way I want to. Being self sustaining allows me to do that. It is after all really not about when or if the SHTF. It is about my quality of life now. For me, being self sustaining living in harmony with the natural world, providing sustenance, comfort, and safety, along with some degree of adventure, joy and pleasure for me and mine is what it is all about. If allowed to do so I will live out my life in peace, content to do. Like Bilbo venturing out on my iron steed adventure when the mood strikes me.
> 
> In short I think prepping, being self sustaining is not about fear of what disaster may strike. But about being free, being happy and content. Living life the way I want to.


Agree 100%, I look at human history and see the relative peace and comfort we live in as the aberration not the norm. I don't constantly sit here hoping that things won't change, I've excepted that they probably will and live accordingly. I've always lived right on the edge of 'civilisation', my home and life are a slightly weird mix of old and new. The modern world is just the top coat here, take away everything that depends on outside sources to operate and you've only taken a few of the non essentials. 
I also LOVE the way I live, peace and freedom are part of my everyday life not something that's given to me by my government or anyone else. I feel that I'm living a 'real' life not one of shiny things and made up values. What I do find sad is that most of the people I know think my life is one of poverty and horrible hard work. We have no debt, own everything here, how is that poor? The hard work, well yeah it's hard but so satisfying and infinitely rewarding and I don't pay gym fees, LOL.


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