The Ten Facets of Self Sustainability
Often when people think of being self reliant, and start learning they find that there is far more that the don’t know about or have experience with than they actually do. This usually kicks in that momentum-killing feeling of being overwhelmed. Which often leads to action paralysis and procrastination. That gets into the realm of wasted time and opportunity to be self sustaining which puts you in danger of being a hindrance instead of a help in instances of emergencies or lean times. And none of us want that… do you?
Well, if you are in the group that say NO…. here are the top ten areas that you need to have some reliance in, and experience with to be that help, and remain self sustaining when the rocks and obstacles start rolling towards us. Starting from the least to greatest here are a few words for each:
10. Communications
This has two meanings. The first being that you actually have the skill or the talent to put the right words into sentences and have the confidence to speak up and speak with those that are around you whether they be friend or foe or family (and sometimes family can be both). Work on the social interactions in your communities and gain the confidence to speak up and be heard with the smarts to back up the words you seek to communicate.
Second part being the actual means of communications. These could include the knowledge and know-how for the least of all communications – Morse Code – but also knowledge of cell towers, close area communications (walkie-talkies) and/or HAM radio operations. This could also include how to see and read communications of those who are in your party and leave directions in the landscapes you are following them in.
9. Financial
Nothing worse than the fear of not having enough money, and when it comes to being self reliant that can be a constant concern. However, if you are smart, and thrifty enough you can make this an asset instead of a liability. By slowly chipping in to your wealth coffers (fiat money, precious metals, goods and commodities alike) you can eventually reach a point of readiness that will ease that fear for you and those you love.
You don’t have to be a millionaire, just make the right choices with the money you do have access to.
8. Food
This involves all the things surrounding gaining nourishment into the body. The growth of the food, the finding of it, the storing of it, the preserving of it and lastly the cooking of it. There is a lot that you can cover here and learn and most certainly do when it comes to food, you need to start with the basics and work yourself up from there. You could spend a lifetime on food, and it is good to find what works for you in each stage of life and situation you may find yourself in.
7. Water
We can definitely find most anything that we can eat and our body can receive sustenance from, however when it comes to water there is no other that can replace it. We need to know how to find and recognize clean sources of water that keeps us alive. This could include practical knowledge on where you can find or dig for it, gather or collect it, and even to the point of the filtration and cleaning of it for use for yourself and your community. Begin with the easiest part of the whole water issue by the finding sources of it, and making sure it is safe for consumption through simple filtration methods. That is an excellent place to start.
6. Fuel
Fuel can take many forms, and depending when, how or what you are using it for/in can determine how you go about learning, using and capitalizing upon the chosen sources for fuel. In the most basic you have wood and coal, along with crude oil in some respects. You can go higher in knowledge, use and production with the refined oil, gasoline and petroleum based fuels. Along with the more unpredictable sources of Hydro, Wind and Solar and the more advanced ways of converting that all into power or fuel, you can gain the understanding on where and how to best use the basic to the most advanced to your advantage and purposes.
5. Clothing/Shelter
If you have ever spent any amount of extended time outdoors, you soon no longer wonder why clothing and shelter is on this list. Having the right gear for the tasks at hand is key to one’s success or failure in their self reliance efforts. This is more so with the shelter from the elements you are exposed to, and more importantly know how to build and maintain well into the future a cover against those weather elements. The materials, the skills to put it together for longer use, as well as the talents to develop to equip and maintain that shelter is a key to self sustainability. Without these skills and talents, and you are left to wander like a vagabond to whatever you can find to put over your head.
Same could be said about clothing as well. If you don’t know how to find the longer lasting materials, put them together for warmth, comfort or utility and continue to maintain them in good working order you are beholden to the whims of what you can find and what others are willing to give you. And when it comes to living thru hard times, people’s charity can wain cold, along with your naked, ignorant booty.
4. Medical
Modern medical methods are miracles. The advancements that we have seen and been a part of could also put us to a severe disadvantage. Because these medical methods are so advanced and specialized we have left it up to the select few willing to sacrifice the time and effort to learn them expertly. This often leaves the general layperson quite ignorant on the basics of medical procedures, and the items that we can utilize for our own health, and well-being.
You can start with the elementary aspect of first aid and rendering first responder type assistance. But it can go far further into what we can utilize that has been used by medical minded people over the course of several millennia. The plants around us, in combination with other compounds, in extractions, decoctions, mixtures or tinctures can do just as well as what you could find synthetically with Big Pharma and have fewer side effects to boot. In the course of healing and in the act of prevention we can do wonders with the everyday plants that grow around us and in the wildcrafts we can learn for our continued health and well-being.
3. Physical
With the right determination, one can do most anything they set their minds to. This is easier to do if you are in the right physical health to tackle the tasks at hand. Most of being reliant, is the actual physical hands-on approach to getting things done. And if your strength, or stamina, or coordination is not up to snuff then getting many of the things you need to do to be self reliant will take longer to do, and be more taxing upon you.
Start right now and get yourself in the proper physical shape that you can do the lifting, or carrying or whichever physical action is needed to accomplish the sustainability you seek after. Get out from behind the monitor, or off that couch or La Z Boy chair and exercise a bit. Because if you don’t use it, you will certainly start to lose it and it’s that much harder to get back to where you first started off.
2. Mental
A weak minded person can wreak havoc on any situation. Those who are innately or willfully incompetent in any of life’s circumstances can ultimately put other’s well-being in danger. Conversely, anyone who knows how to work through a problem, large or small, and actively seeks the best resolution possible can be a god-send and a champion for themselves and their community. It is again, dependent on the determination of the individual if they are the bane of their existence, or an asset to society and how they are able to orchestrate the happenings around them, and bring them to a successful conclusion.
If you have been a part of any company group larger or small you have undoubtedly experienced this. There surely are people that have the natural talent towards being capable and competent in their mental capacities. And beyond chemical imbalances, and past structural, physical traumas, anyone can learn, practice and do what those titans of industries have done, generals of war have waged, leaders of countries have perpetrated, and many fathers and mothers do on a daily basis. You need to mentally prepare for the hard times, and then keep the determination to make it through, not necessarily unscathed, but to sustain your success nonetheless.
1. Spiritual
In this particular case, last is best in all this game … of life, as the saying may go. Many don’t pay attention or neglect this aspect of themselves and if they don’t have the spiritual fortitude and conviction of soul to get through the rough patches of life this void can trickle down and adversely effect the rest of this list. It is not only belief in oneself that they can do what is set before them, but the belief in that Providence has set them to the task. Has given them the opportunity to shine forth and lift up, instead of look down upon and oppress those who they find themselves in company with.
One’s spiritual journey is entirely an individual one. The only uniformity about Spirituality is that each one of us can find the answers we seek, if we seek diligently enough, asking not amiss. That there is One Universal Truth that can be found, known and celebrated. And that once attained we continually need to sharpen our spiritual knowledge over and over again to keep it fresh and vibrant within us.
The place you can start is where the Master Teacher started by recognizing how poor in spirit or how people find themselves in a place of simple humility and are found wanting more of the Spring of Life that sprouts forth from the Source of Light and Knowledge. The Keeper of that Universal Truth spoken of. Becoming spiritually strong, come what may, whichever is on this list you can achieve and have the ability to navigate through the challenges that polishes us in the Refiner’s Fire.
Overall TakeAway
When you look at the whole of Self Reliance it certainly can be daunting, but if you take it a step at a time you gain the confidence to do things right and the experience to do it more quickly. Take the opportunity right now and start on that path to Self Sustainability that is a must in today’s modern era.
