It’s All In The Details. Or Is It?
December 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment
“A little perspective, like a little humor, goes a long way.”—Allen Klein 
“If you go on a hike and only focus on the details, such as the rocks on the path, you will miss the beautiful view every single time. Similarly, if you only look out at the view and neglect the rocks, you could twist your ankle. Successful people balance the two and are able to keep the details in perspective while staying mindful of the bigger picture.”—Alissa Finerman
When I wrote my first book, Living in Your Top 1%, I was obsessed with the details in the final stages even though I was not concerned with them when I first started writing the book. Why? One typo or unfinished chapter in the first draft of a two-year book project really doesn’t matter. However, a typo when the book is going to print is major. It’s the same detail, a simple typo, but has very different implications when considered in line with the bigger picture of publishing a book. One is a detail that can be overlooked initially and one is a detail that will detract from the project. The more important issue is how we view details in our life and keep them in perspective relative to the bigger picture.
If you go on a hike and only focus on the details, such as the rocks on the path, you will miss the beautiful view every single time. Similarly, if you only look out at the view and neglect the rocks/details, you could twist your ankle. Successful people balance the two and are able to keep the details in perspective while staying mindful of the bigger picture. We can apply this same principle to all areas of our life. Consider the following three examples:
You pay your rent or mortgage late.
If you’ve never missed a payment before, you most likely will be subject to a late fee and it’s not the end of the world. However, if you’ve missed the last four payments, then the detail of missing another payment may have much more serious implications. This detail is obviously critical within the bigger picture of keeping your home.
A person is disrespectful to you.
If the person serves you coffee at your local coffee spot, you can choose to overlook the incident or get your coffee elsewhere. However, if you are seriously dating this person then it’s an important detail in line with the bigger picture of creating a life together that you will hopefully want to address. The single detail of being rude/disrespectful (although never desirable) has different implications depending on the situation.
You don’t like the seat you are assigned on a flight from LAX to NYC.
Your preference is to have an aisle seat in an exit row with more leg room but instead get stuck with a middle seat. If you’re healthy, this is undesirable but not the biggest deal. However, if you just had knee surgery and need to keep your knee extended or else you will be in extreme pain, the seat selection is an important detail. Again, a simple detail is more or less important depending on the situation.
How we view details is a dynamic process. It’s difficult to draw a conclusion from a single detail without understanding what it means within the context of the bigger picture. Some details really make a difference in your life and others take more energy to address than they’re worth. Are you you treating every “detail” like a missed mortgage payment or keeping it in perspective?
TOP 1% BOTTOM LINE: Yes, details are important but not every one is the most important. The key is to understand the bigger picture and to quickly assess how and if the details matter within that context. Knowing which details to overlook and which to focus on will depend on your values, goals, and how you want to invest your energy. As you move into the new year, take a moment and consider where in your life you could view the details differently to gain a Positively Positive perspective.
Source: https://www.positivelypositive.com/2011/12/12/it%E2%80%99s-all-in-the-details-or-is-it/
Ready For Life ‘Off The Grid’?: GBTV Launches Reality Show ‘Independence USA’
December 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment
By Scott Baker
The show follows Frank Belcastro and his family as they try and become completely independent and prepare for life “off the grid.”
Here’s the news release: 
GBTV LAUNCHES ITS FIRST REALITY SHOW- INDEPENDENCE U.S.A.
This January 2012, Join the Belcastro Family as They Prepare for an Independent Life Off the Grid. The show will debut on January 18th 2012 and will air weekly on Wednesdays.
Concerned that the economy could collapse? Or that a natural disaster could wipe out our infrastructure? So is Frank, and he is doing something about it!
Believing that America has become too reliant on a crumbling foundation, Frank is preparing his family for life “off the grid,” admiring the way people lived in the 19th century. Like them, he longs to become completely independent. So he is embarking on one project at a time hoping to prepare his family for the worst, such as building a car that runs on wood in case gasoline supplies are interrupted, becoming expert hunters when grocery stores are no longer in existence, and making his own alcohol for barter when the dollar collapses.
Frank does it all with determination, intelligence, and good humor. He’ll need all that and more, as he attempts to motivate a family that neither shares his fervor nor wishes to sacrifice the comforts and conveniences of 21st century life. In the series premiere- “A Hunting We Will Go”- we meet the Belcastro’s as they set out on a journey to be a self-sufficient family. Frank wants the family to be able to hunt and kill their own food but not every one is on board. Starting with making their own weapons Frank and his son Adam really learn an appreciation for the hunt but wonder if they will succeed.
Senate Bill S510 Makes it Illegal to Grow, Share, Trade or Sell
December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
“If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.”
Thomas Jefferson
Preppers Are Now Considered To Be Potential Terrorists?
December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
If you and your family store up lots of food, will you be identified as “potential terrorists” by law enforcement authorities? That sounds like an insane question, but sadly it has gotten to the point where “preparing for the worst” has become a “suspicious activity“.
Today, there are millions of preppers all across the United States, and the vast majority of them just want to be left alone and do not want the government to interfere in their lives. Storing up food is a completely peaceful activity, and preppers are generally some of the most patriotic and law-abiding people that you could ever hope to meet. Unfortunately, prepping has become associated with “extremism” by many in the government, and lately we have seen some very disturbing signs that authorities are actively seeking to gather information on preppers. So are preppers now considered to be potential terrorists? 
Well, read the evidence posted in the rest of this article and decide for yourself.
The other day, U.S. Senator Rand Paul gave a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate during which he suggested that having “more than seven days of food” in your house could potentially get you branded as a “potential terrorist” by the federal government.
The following is an excerpt from that speech:
Know good and well that some day there could be a government in power that is shipping its citizens off for disagreements. There are laws on the books now that characterize who might be a terrorist.
Someone missing fingers on their hands is a suspect according to the Department of Justice. Someone who has guns, someone who has ammunition that is weatherproofed, someone who has more than seven days of food in their house can be considered a potential terrorist.
If you are suspected by these activities do you want the government to have the ability to send you to Guantanamo Bay for indefinite detention?
It is incredibly chilling to hear a defender of liberty such as Rand Paul warn of such things.
But just because a politician says something that does not always mean that it is true.
So is there any evidence that Americans that are storing up food are being watched by the federal government?
Unfortunately, there is. In fact, Oath Keepers has posted a report about one incident in which federal agents actually visited a food production facility and demanded the names of anyone that has been “purchasing bulk food”. The following come from an article about this incident that was recently written by Rand Cardwell, the president of the Tennessee chapter of the Oath Keepers….
A fellow veteran contacted me concerning a new and disturbing development. He had been utilizing a Mormon cannery near his home to purchase bulk food supplies. The man that manages the facility related to him that federal agents had visited the facility and demanded a list of individuals that had been purchasing bulk food. The manager informed the agents that the facility kept no such records and that all transactions were conducted on a cash-and-carry basis. The agents pressed for any record of personal checks, credit card transactions, etc., but the manager could provide no such record. The agents appeared to become very agitated and after several minutes of questioning finally left with no information. I contacted the manager and personally confirmed this information.
Why in the world would federal agents be so interested in Americans that are “purchasing bulk food”?
Don’t they have anything better to do?
As I have written about previously, authorities are also now using a tool developed by the CDC to conduct “door to door disaster preparedness assessments” in some areas of the United States.
The following comes from a local news report in Tennessee….
The Metro Public Health and the Tennessee Department of Health will be using a tool designed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to go door to door and check to see how disaster ready you are.
The door to door assessment will take place from 3:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Thursday and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday. It will be in 30 neighborhoods in Davidson County that have been randomly selected to be the target of a door to door assessment.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want anyone coming to my door to “assess” how “prepared” I am.
This is all very, very disturbing.
Lately, the federal government seems absolutely obsessed with the distribution of food.
As author Brandon Turbeville noted recently, “the U.S. government has publicly raided organic food shops, raw milk distributors, and the Amish with guns drawn” in recent years.
Aren’t there bigger threats to national security than the Amish?
Unfortunately, we now live in a “Big Brother” police state where just about anything can be considered a “suspicious activity”.
In fact, according to the FBI a bulk purchase of “meals ready to eat” is now considered to be “suspicious activity” that should be reported to them.
When the “war on terror” started a decade ago, we were told that we needed to fight the terrorists “over there” so that they would not come over here.
Well, now we are being told that the United States itself is part of the “battleground” and that the “terrorists” might just be our neighbors.
We are being told that if we “see something” that we should “say something” to the government.
In essence, the federal government wants us all to “inform” on one another.
Now that most of the big name terrorists have been removed from the picture, the Obama administration and the mainstream media are really hyping the idea that “homegrown terrorism” is a grave danger.
Just check out these headlines from the past few days….
ABC News: “White House Unveils New Strategy to Fight Homegrown Terrorism”
USA Today: “White House unveils new strategy to combat homegrown terror”
CNN: “Measuring the homegrown terrorist threat to U.S. military”
The entire focus of the “war on terror” has shifted. According to FBI Director Robert Mueller, “homegrown terrorists” represent as big a threat to American national security as al-Qaeda does at this point.
America is rapidly changing, and not for the better. All of this paranoia is going to rip this country apart.
In addition, have you noticed how they have taken the word “Islamic” out of their description of the terrorists and have replaced it with words like “extremist” and “extremism”?
Well, the truth is that just about anyone can be considered an “extremist” in one sense or another.
In fact, a recent Salon article asked this question: “Are Evangelicals A National Security Threat?”
These days, if you support an “alternative” political candidate there is a good chance that you will be labeled as an extremist.
During the 2008 election, one law enforcement report identified supporters of presidential candidates Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin, and Bob Barr as potential terrorists.
Today, if you have a religious or political ideology that differs from the “orthodoxy” of the federal government then you are probably considered to be an “extremist”.
Beliefs that were once considered normal are now considered to be “dangerous” and “radical”.
For example, one unclassified Department of Homeland Security report published a couple of years ago entitled “Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment“ claimed that a belief in Bible prophecy “could motivate extremist individuals and groups to stockpile food, ammunition and weapons.”
During a Congressional hearing earlier this year, U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee warned that “Christian militants” might try to “bring down the country” and that such groups need to be investigated.
Back on February 20, 2009, the State of Missouri issued a report entitled “MIAC Strategic Report: The Modern Militia Movement“. That report warned that the following types of people may be potential terrorists….
*anti-abortion activists
*those that are against illegal immigration
*those that consider “the New World Order” to be a threat
*those that have a negative view of the United Nations
As I have written about previously, a very revealing document obtained by Oath Keepers shows that the FBI is actually instructing store owners to report many new forms of “suspicious activity” to them.
So what does the FBI consider “suspicious activity” to include? According to the document, the FBI now considers “suspicious activity” to include the following….
*paying with cash
*missing a hand or fingers
*”strange odors”
*making “extreme religious statements”
*”radical theology”
*purchasing weatherproofed ammunition or match containers
*purchasing meals ready to eat
*purchasing night vision devices, night flashlights or gas masks
All of this is completely and totally ridiculous.
Law enforcement authorities should quit worrying about preppers. The vast majority of us that are preparing for the hard times that are coming truly love this country, are completely and totally non-violent, and just want to be left alone.
There are real threats to national security out there, but the federal government refuses to address them. For example, our border with Mexico is wide open and it has been documented that terror groups are working in northern Mexico and have been coming across the border on a regular basis.
But instead of securing the border, the Obama administration is granting “backdoor amnesty” to illegal aliens instead.
In addition, law enforcement authorities should look into the massive breach of national security that the “Fast and Furious” scandal represents. With the full knowledge of the Department of Justice, ATF agents facilitated the sale of thousands of guns to Mexican drug cartels and dropped all surveillance on those weapons once they crossed the border. Those guns will be used to kill people (including Americans) for many years to come.
In fact, there is so much corruption and so many “potential terrorists” in Washington D.C. that it should be more than enough to keep law enforcement officials busy for a very long time.
So leave preppers alone.
Preppers are not a threat. They are not going to hurt anyone. They just want to store up food and prepare for the difficult times that are coming.
So what do all of you think about preppers?
Source: https://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/preppers-are-now-considered-to-be-potential-terrorists
Federal Agents Raid Mormon Food Storage Facility, Demand List Of Customers Storing Emergency Food
December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
As was the plan all along, the so-called “War on Terror” has officially devolved into a war on the American people
This was clearly illustrated by the recent traitorous passage of the egregious National Defense Authorization Act by the US Congress. But in order to fully implement the ultimate goal of total control and tyranny, the federal government is now actively collecting the names of individuals that are preparing for the future by buying and storing emergency food supplies. 
Oath Keepers, an association of active servicemen devoted to upholding their oath of guarding the republic and protecting individual liberty, has reported that federal agents recently paid a visit to a Latter Day Saints food storage cannery in Tennessee. Though they had no reason to be there, these agents allegedly interrogated the facility’s manager and demanded to see a list of customers that had purchased, and were storing, food there.
Oath Keepers Tennessee Chapter President Rand Cardwell confirmed the incident, according to reports, as he is in close contact with a fellow veteran who happens to store his own food at the facility in question. According to the man’s account, agents entered the facility and began demanding payment records and personal information for everyone connected with the operation.
“The manager informed the agents that the facility kept no such records and that all transactions were conducted on a cash-and-carry basis,” Cardwell is quoted as saying, concerning the incident. “The agents pressed for any record of personal checks, credit card transactions, etc., but the manager could provide no such record. The agents appeared to become very agitated and after several minutes of questioning finally left with no information.”
This unprovoked act of intimidation is highly concerning, but it is also somewhat contradictory. On the one hand, the federal government has been instilling fear into the American public for years, and has even made announcements urging the public to be prepared. But on the other hand, this same government is now pursuing those who are heeding these precautions as if they are terrorists.
Oath Keepers suggests the government might be trying to gather intelligence on food-storing Americans in order to later come and confiscate that food, or worse — after all, freedom-loving patriots who are preparing for social upheaval are a threat to the power structure that seeks to tighten the noose of tyranny around the neck of society.
Source: https://peopleforfreedom.com/
May You Have Everything You Want
December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
A Tale of Forgiveness
A wise woman and her young disciple were walking down the street. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an angry man in a carriage drove haphazardly by the two, insensitively pushing the woman out of his way. She landed in a ditch filled with muddy water. The woman yelled after the man in the carriage, “May you have everything you want!” The disciple, surprised by the wise woman’s response, said: “I’m confused. Why did you say that to a man with such horrible behavior?” The woman replied, “Because a happy man wouldn’t have thoughtlessly pushed a woman into a ditch.” 
Do you agree with this woman’s response?
In my book The Bounce Back Book, I offer many tips for embracing forgiveness and liberating yourself from anger and bitterness—even in the most challenging situations.
Here are a few quickie strategies to free you from your resentments starting today!
Say a Prayer
Whenever angry feelings about a person who’s harmed you enter your mind, tell yourself: “We are all good, loving souls who occasionally get lost.” Pray for this person to find their way back to a happier place—in the same way the woman in this story prayed for her offender.
Focus on Gratitude
Resist seeking happiness from the outside in. Instead, focus on gratitude exercises to bring happiness from the inside out. If you allow your mood to be at the mercy of unpredictable events and unreliable people, your happiness will be forever on a chaotic roller coaster ride! Happiness must always be an inside joy! When you are tempted to focus on all the ways the world has done you wrong, instead count your blessings by making a list of the five aspects of your life that you appreciate. It is good practice to purposefully end your day this way to keep focused.
Look for the Lesson
Many Buddhists consider huge difficulties to be a sign you’re an old soul—the bigger your misfortunes, the closer you are to enlightenment. Whether you believe this or not, it’s certainly cheery to reframe all your life’s bad events as tests of your character. If you feel particularly tested right now, ask yourself what the heck you’re being tested for! Patience? Compassion? Resilience? Forgiveness? Open-mindedness? What strengths must you develop further? Now consciously go out there and develop them!
Stay Centered
Recognize that when you respond with hate to hate, anger to anger, bitterness to bitterness, you are ironically becoming part of the problem. Choose to resist becoming like your offender and instead put in the conscious effort to remain a loving, soulful, happy person. In fact, don’t just tell your offender “May you have everything want.” Use this for a mantra to tell yourself—and re-focus all that energy of resentment into the energy to move forward to get what you want.
Source: https://
Ten Unusual Ways to Get in the Top 1% of Happiness
December 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment
At midnight my door opened and I saw the shadow of someone about 4 feet tall walk into my room and stand by my side of the bed. “I can’t sleep,” she said and she was smart enough to also say, “my mind is racing”. Over the nine years of her life so far she has probably heard me say that many times. Like when I was losing a home and I threw a chair and the police were called. The third time police had to be called on me in life (out of five). 
So I took her hand and we walked downstairs and she gave me a lecture on what was going on in each one of her classes and she concluded with a discussion of the various Greek gods (“Athena is my favorite,” she said. “Who is yours. Hermes?”) And then I saw her yawn and I said maybe now she can try to go back to sleep, which she did.
I’m scared for her. My mind races also. How many times has my mind woken me up at midnight to remind me of how little money was in my bank account, or how many bills I had to pay, or how much I hated my job, or even hated being an entrepreneur with customers, clients, people screwing me, people hating me. I don’t want her mind to wake her like that when she’s older. It’s the worst pain. And I might not be there then for her to talk to.
Will she kill herself? Will she wake up her husband or girlfriend or whatever and say, “my mind is racing. Talk to me.”
One time some bad business things were happening to me. Something was shutting down, other things were going down. Some people were cheating me. Whatever. My mind was racing. I woke up Claudia. “Breathe like this,” she said. It was two in the morning but she wanted to help. She had me do a breathing exercise that involved quickly exhaling but I forget the rest of it. Then I fell asleep.
One investor of mine told me I had a “scarcity complex” - that I always had a strong feeling that I had nothing even when I had many things to be happy about. This was about eight years ago. I agreed with him. He wanted to be my mentor. I wanted him to sell his business and then let me invest the money. So I agreed to everything he said. I did that back then. But in this case maybe he was right. Unless I’m at optimal health in every way I constantly feel like I have less than nothing. It’s post-traumatic stress from losing everything several times and watching my father lose everything twenty years earlier.
No toys will ever patch that bleeding.
The country now has a scarcity complex. “The banks took everything.” “The government took everything.” “There are no jobs.” “There is no money”. Everyone is in despair. Everyone is scared about feeding their family. Scared and scarred. Greece, Japan, China, Libya, terrorism, Jamie Dimon, Obama, Rich Perry. These are the monsters in the closet at night.
I’m tired of monsters in my closet. Anger won’t change anything. Complaining won’t change anything.
I want to be consistently in the “1%”. Not of money. Money comes and goes, talking of Michelangelo.
I want to be in the 1% of the happiest people on Earth.
My only goal is to be in the 1% of happiness. Else, if I’m in the 99%, then all of my other goals will also fall short of the 1%. You can’t meet the love of your life, for instance, if you’re in the botton 99%. At least, from my experience it will be harder. It’s like taking out the garbage and expecting to meet the love of your life in the garbage can.
My life is like a laboratory and happiness has been the experiment. Only when I’ve been in the 1% of happiness have my other goals been satisfactorily achieved.
So I know what I have to do when I slip into the 99%. This might not work for everyone. Maybe some people have to protest with signs to be in the top 1% of happiness. That doesn’t work for me.
But these ten things work for me:
A) Lately, exercise has worked for me to stay in shape and sweat out toxins. Bad stuff builds up in the body. You have the usual disgusting methods to get out bad toxins that go into the digestion system. But what about bad stuff that builds up in every pore of your body. You have to sweat it out. Sometimes just 100 pushups a day will do it. For me, I like doing yoga.
B) I don’t have a lot of friends. But I do know enough people that I can do this: every day I make sure I don’t talk to people who bring me down. And I try to meet new people who bring me up. I won’t do business with anyone who brings me down. The last time I tried that, my body told me, “Bad James!” On the second day on the job I fell straight to the ground and sprained my ankle for no obvious reason. If you let it, the reactions in your body (any part of your body) will tell you if you are with good people or bad people. When I get an email from someone who is bad for me, I usually get a quick stomach ache. So I delete the mail and put the emailer in Spam. Its’s the only solution if I want to be in the 1%. I don’t engage at all with anyone who is going to bring me down. Why should I? [See. "How to Deal with Crappy People"]
C) I like to be creative. Whether it’s through this blog or writing down a list of ideas or even drawing. It makes my brain come to life in ways that it’s not used to. It’s important here, to never expect results from your creativity. When I was working on the pilot of a TV show, for instance, it made me very anxious to know whether or not it was going to get accepted. I was too attached to the results of the creativity. Just like now I might be too attached to blog traffic.
D) I like to avoid these nine obstacles to my success. Any one of these nine will make me unhappy.
E) I try to avoid all leaks. For instance, I’m happily married. Cheating on my wife would make me unhappily married. BAM! That would put me in the 99%.
F) I try to be as grateful as possible. When I remind someone what they’ve done for me and how happy it made me it not only brings back memories of that happiness it also makes me happy that I’m helping them be happy by being grateful for them.
G) I try to “surrender”. I say to myself, “I can’t do everything. I can’t take this pain. I can’t have everything I want. Sometimes I’m helpless in the face of my material goals. So YOU figure it out.” I don’t even know who I’m talking to. Who YOU is. I might be talking to my teddy bear when I say that. But having a sense of surrender and humility will help me reduce my needs (I don’t need a yacht for instance) and help me to feel humility. There’s a physical exercise that’s good to practice surrender if you are not good at it. In America we’re not really good at surrender. We never give up. We want to win every war. The exercise is to reach down and touch your toes. It obscures your vision (because you are staring at your knees), its almost impossible (you have to be flexible, both physically and mentally), and it looks like your bowing, which is an unusual thing for Americans to do. So it teaches surrender if you are uncomfortable with it.
(Claudia touching her toes)
H) I try not to lie to anyone or harm anyone. Because then you have to keep track of which lie was told to who. Or you feel bad about who you harmed, which was usually as a result of either anger or greed. If I never harm anyone I never have to deal with anyone’s anger (unless it’s irrational anger). Anger makes me unhappy.
I) Sometimes you can’t avoid work that you don’t want to do. We all have to feed our families. But, in general, if I move every day towards staying away from corporate America (fluorescent lights and bosses make me less happy) then I’ll be more happy.
J) I need a tenth thing so that I can call this post, “Ten Ways to be in the Top 1%” so hold on a second while I think of something…coffee? No, sometimes it spills on me. A lot of sex? Makes me VERY happy but sometimes makes me jealous or anxious. Ahh, sleeping 8-9 hours a day. Because then I know I’m in the top 1% for at least 1/3 of the day. And I also know I won’t be tired the other 2/3, which would put me in the bottom 99%.
And if I’m consistently in the top 1% of happiness, maybe there’s a slight chance my two daughters , and maybe others I interact with, will be in the top 1% when they’re older. Happiness is both contagious and hereditary. And so on.
Source: https://www.jamesaltucher.com/2011/10/ten-unusual-ways-to-get-in-the-top-1/
Introduction to Emergency Survival Shelters
December 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
If your plane crashes, your car gets washed away in a mudslide, or your boat sinks and you’re stuck on an unknown coast, your first priority might not be food or water, but an emergency shelter. 
It depends on the conditions — weather primarily.
Of course, the best alternative is to get out of the wilderness and back home, but you might have to hunker down before you can leave. In case you do, you’ll need to know how to build an emergency survival shelter.
Assess the situation before you build an emergency shelter
When you find yourself stranded, follow the DAPA procedure:
- Don’t panic. Disorientation, stress, and fear are the enemies of functionality. You can’t reason yourself through a situation without getting control of your emotions.
- Assess your situation. Remain calm; look around. You might not know which direction points home, but you can determine your physical relation to the immediate environment. Are you in a gulley? Are you on high ground? Is it cold? Are you injured? Next, is there anyone with you? If so, determine whether they need help. Then determine what tools you have. What’s in your pocket?
- Plan. Having a plan gives you the means to apply rational thought — it helps keep you mentally stable. Bad morale is lethal; your plan should be designed to guarantee incremental successes. This rewards you with the pleasure of progress. Don’t be too cocky for Baby Steps. Your first success might be something as simple as reaching the vantage point you identified when assessing your situation just moments ago, or identifying North, or taking stock of your tools. If you’re completely befuddled as to what to do, you still must plan. If you can’t think of anything else, determine simply to reach a landmark, like “I’m going to walk 100 yards uphill and see what’s there.” Your goal is always to improve your situation. Be realistic. Your ultimate goal is to get out of the wilderness and get home, but you might not be able to do that right now. If that’s the case, set interim goals that are achievable and improve your situation.
- Act. What you planned, now you must do. Be diligent, but be flexible. Put some effort into carrying out every step of your plan, but revise the plan if necessary to reach your goal. For example, if you have decided to build your shelter against a fallen tree trunk, but find that the ground is drier next to a rock ledge nearby, feel free to move — if you have time. The goal always is to improve your situation.
Understand Your Immediate Shelter Needs
There are four primary considerations in determining your emergency shelter needs: purpose, environment, physical condition, and materials on hand.
- Purpose of a shelter. Always, always keep in mind the purpose of your emergency shelter; you only need to provide basic protection from the elements. If the threat is rain, spend your energy stopping most leaks. If the threat is cold, focus on insulation. If the threat is heat, focus on shade and ventilation. Once you’ve abated the major environmental threat, move on to the next item in your overall plan. Don’t waste time and energy perfecting something that’s good enough.
- Environment. If you’re supremely lucky, you’ll be stranded in an environment that resembles the garden of Eden — food will grow on trees, cold, clean water will bubble out of the ground, you’ll find mossy patches four feet thick for your bed, and the temperature will hover around 80 degrees Fahrenheit day and night. Bet against it, though. Just in case the garden of Eden is hard to find where you’ll be traveling, you should be prepared for a less benign environment. Whenever you travel, it is vitally important to have some information about the weather forecast.
- Physical condition. If you’re in good condition, you can be more aggressive, take a little more hardship, take a little more calculated risk. If you’re injured, sick, or malnourished, your weakened condition means you’ll have less tolerance for exposure. You’ll have to be more careful to provide warmth, to stay dry, and keep your stress level down. Understand your capabilities and limitations.
- Materials on hand. As always, your best bet is to have a well-stocked everyday carry bag. Ideally, you’ll have a ripstop poncho with grommets — you can tie this down for immediate shelter from wind and rain. In five minutes, you have a life-saving shelter. Barring that, consider what you do have, whether it’s snow, leaves, evergreen boughs, bamboo, banana leaves, whatever.
Source: https://www.activistpost.com/2011/12/introduction-to-emergency-survival.html
Best Speech You Will Ever Hear - Gary Yourofsky
December 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Gary Yourofsky’s entire inspirational speech on animal rights and veganism held at Georgia Tech in summer of 2010.
Listen to this amazing speaker who will blow away the myths, fill your mind with interesting facts, and help you make ethical choices for a healthy heart and soul.
His charismatic and straightforward style is one of a kind - a must-see for anyone who cares about nonhuman animals or wishes to make the world a better place.
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