We’ve all found ourselves, at various times in our lives, embroiled in a task that we suddenly realize we just don’t really care about. Maybe it’s spending years in college and grad school, only to realize, six months or a year into your career, that you don’t just hate the job, but the entire field of endeavor. Maybe it’s a relationship that you’ve invested years in, and even bought an engagement ring, and set a date, when the bride-to-be’s behavior suddenly makes you realize that the idea of being married to this woman for the rest of your life is terrifying.1 In many cases, people work harder to make things works. We’re indoctrinated with the belief that if we just work a little harder, we can make it work, whether it’s a career, a relationship, or even a hobby. What we need to do though, is determine the underlying facts. This is just as true in preparedness as in general day-to-day life. What is your true motivation for slinging heavy iron in the gym? Are you trying to lose thirty pounds, to be more fit to protect your family, or are you trying to get fit enough that your kids will have some respect for you? Are you stockpiling food because you want to be ready for the grocery stores to run out, or are you secretly terrified of being hungry for a day? Are you still living in an undersized urban apartment because it’s where your job and career are, or is because you’re single and looking for a wife, and can’t imagine there are any out in the hinterboonies of suburbia? In order to genuinely be prepared, we need to understand our motivations before we start throwing money and effort at things that won’t solve the problems we’re actually concerned about. Most of us here are at least passingly aware that many—perhaps most—of our motivations are heavily informed by the media we consume. Even if you’re not on Facebook or Twitter/X or Instagram, our daily lives are inundated with endless images of wealth, travel, power, pleasure, and convenience. This virtual cornucopia of decadence seeps into our unconscious, polluting and degrading our sense of reality and self-respect at every turn. We are exposed to these artificial definitions of success and glory, and we subconsciously compare ourselves and our lives, and start—unavoidably—thinking of what we can do to hopefully, eventually afford that golden ticket to luxury and ease… Read the rest: https://www.patreon.com/posts/basic...paign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link Continue reading...
