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It takes some drastic life changes to put things into perspective sometimes. You could say that relocating the way we did does just that. When you leave not only nearly all your belongings behind but also everything and nearly everyone you knew, you can’t help but to reassess your priorities.
We realized that what at some point seemed important, it wasn’t so. People generally know that material possessions come at a far second place compared to your loved ones and yourself, your beliefs, that part of you that defines who you are as a person and isn’t dictated by material things. Still, its not often that people get to experience that first hand by actual events.
Its when you leave all behind that it hits you, that its just stuff. I can write reviews and articles time and again about gear and supplies but when looking at the complete picture you have to put it in the right place and never lose perspective of the fact that your skills, knowledge and heart will always be your greatest assets not only for survival but life itself. The heart to fight for survival is the same as the heart to fight for life in general to achieve your goals on everyday basis. The person that lacks that today will rarely find it during dire events. This goes along with what I’ve said in the past, about getting your life in proper order today because if you really want to be ready for a worst case scenario or at the very least more complicated times, its just going to be harder to achieve afterwards.
Something similar goes in terms of skill. It is said that people don’t rise to the occasion but fall to their level of training, or the one they’ve managed to master. What skills have you acquired? How useful are they? Have you mastered such skills and practice often enough?
When we throw into it the true first line of material assets which is your body, your health and physical ability, “stuff” falls even more in terms of priorities.
It really is just stuff. Granted, some of it can be extremely handy and can be hard to improvise in terms of preparedness, but its not your reason for happiness and it does not dictate who you are, and while this is supposed to be common knowledge, an awful majority don’t live their lives as if they knew this. They obsess over the latest trendy junk the media tells them to buy, or the survival movement equivalent of that which is stockpiling tons of supplies of debatable necessity. If you had to walk out the door right now, who are you, what are you capable of, who would go along with you? Its only after taking a good look at those questions that the finer details of bug out bags or survival emergency kits have relevance.
Having little besides a suitcase worth of belongings I found myself realizing two things. The first one was that I couldn’t remember ever having so few belongings. The second one was that I’ve never been happier in my life. My wife and kids and their happiness, that’s all I need. I love collecting guns, knives, etc, and gear is already piling up all around me either because someone managed to bring some back for me or because I get it for testing and reviews. Yet as much as I enjoy doing that, the moments when I feel I couldn´t be happier, when I wouldn’t trade shoes with anyone in the world has nothing to do with material wealth, but instead treasured moments with the truly important people in my life. That’s all that matters.
FerFAL
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We realized that what at some point seemed important, it wasn’t so. People generally know that material possessions come at a far second place compared to your loved ones and yourself, your beliefs, that part of you that defines who you are as a person and isn’t dictated by material things. Still, its not often that people get to experience that first hand by actual events.
Its when you leave all behind that it hits you, that its just stuff. I can write reviews and articles time and again about gear and supplies but when looking at the complete picture you have to put it in the right place and never lose perspective of the fact that your skills, knowledge and heart will always be your greatest assets not only for survival but life itself. The heart to fight for survival is the same as the heart to fight for life in general to achieve your goals on everyday basis. The person that lacks that today will rarely find it during dire events. This goes along with what I’ve said in the past, about getting your life in proper order today because if you really want to be ready for a worst case scenario or at the very least more complicated times, its just going to be harder to achieve afterwards.
Something similar goes in terms of skill. It is said that people don’t rise to the occasion but fall to their level of training, or the one they’ve managed to master. What skills have you acquired? How useful are they? Have you mastered such skills and practice often enough?
When we throw into it the true first line of material assets which is your body, your health and physical ability, “stuff” falls even more in terms of priorities.
It really is just stuff. Granted, some of it can be extremely handy and can be hard to improvise in terms of preparedness, but its not your reason for happiness and it does not dictate who you are, and while this is supposed to be common knowledge, an awful majority don’t live their lives as if they knew this. They obsess over the latest trendy junk the media tells them to buy, or the survival movement equivalent of that which is stockpiling tons of supplies of debatable necessity. If you had to walk out the door right now, who are you, what are you capable of, who would go along with you? Its only after taking a good look at those questions that the finer details of bug out bags or survival emergency kits have relevance.
Having little besides a suitcase worth of belongings I found myself realizing two things. The first one was that I couldn’t remember ever having so few belongings. The second one was that I’ve never been happier in my life. My wife and kids and their happiness, that’s all I need. I love collecting guns, knives, etc, and gear is already piling up all around me either because someone managed to bring some back for me or because I get it for testing and reviews. Yet as much as I enjoy doing that, the moments when I feel I couldn´t be happier, when I wouldn’t trade shoes with anyone in the world has nothing to do with material wealth, but instead treasured moments with the truly important people in my life. That’s all that matters.
FerFAL
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2 comments:
How perfect. You're so right - it really is all just stuff. I mean, what if a 'worst case scenario' meant that we only had a suitcase worth of things with us....we can't take EVERYTHING with us wherever we go, and one never knows exactly what might happen when you are away from home.
Being with our loved ones, and having the heart and mind to always think of ways to make the best of any situation is really what matters.
With all the talk of emergency preps, how to bug out, etc., it's ironic to think that of all my belongings the ones that are truly irreplaceable are photos and other small paper artifacts of my loved ones. Imprints of my kid's hands from when they were 3? Priceless.
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