I'm now in my fifties, and I've lived a life with very, very, few regrets.
To say I've 'had a wild ride', is the understatement of the century.
I do not have any children (that I'm aware of), nor have I ever wanted them particularly.
My 'adopted granddaughter' is the closest thing that I've come to in that regard. (I'd kill and die for her, so I can only imagine how it must be for loving parents).
As I stated in the latter part of my post:
( https://peakd.com/hive-174578/@lucylin/voting-for-trump-is-the-only-logical-choice-even-if-you-re-a-sane-communist ) , I'm an outlier in society.
I don't really belong to anywhere in the world.
That has both good and bad elements to it, but guess what?
It is what it is.
My soul is one of a wanderer, I think (it might very well be a genetic thing, knowing what I do about one side of my family).
Whatever the reasons are I am , who I am.
I can see people on here, on twitter, and pretty much everywhere, who are not in the same place as myself, and I see the fears that they have.
I understand it to some degree, but I don't really feel it.
How could I?
I am not part of your tribe.
I live on the outskirts of your village. I have no desire to belong , but only to partake.
To help others, if at all possible.
I read so many posts nowadays regarding the upcoming hardships that we are all gonna experience.
More and more people seem to be agreeing on this. (I've been trying my best to wake people up for the last decade or more, but that has mostly fell on deaf ears).
But now?
People can now see what exactly what it was, that I was trying to illustrate.
It's coming, people.
So, bearing in mind that I've had the luxury of no ties, and no commitments, I have also had the time to look at life. From a detached perspective.
(and it is a luxury that I've had, I know that).
Ahhhhh... time.... that elusive commodity that we all posses and rarely spend wisely.
Free time is the path to wisdom (I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere).
So listen to an old fucker who's had more free time than most.
(There's reason the 'wise men', throughout different cultures and throughout time, were the ones on the outskirts of the village. The outliers. They're the ones who had time to ponder in a detached manner).
Time is a commodity that you can't borrow off someone.
It just is.
You have what you have, no more and no less.
How can some one with a wife and two kids, and two jobs, and a mortgage, have any time, to just breathe?
To be able to sit and ponder with out the pressures of life encroaching in?
When all your thoughts are processed through pressures of everyday living everything you think about is also through that prism.
It's the way it is. It's unavoidable.
You can think, yes - of course - but the pressures of life stop you thinking as clearly as you might be able to.
That's where I come in.
(I'm still looking for 'the wisdom path'. Pesky life maps).
This isn't advice.
This is me trying to show you my map, the one that I've drawn so far, on my own life adventure.
The shit is most certainly in the process of, right now, hitting the proverbial fan.
It doesn't smell too pleasant, does it?
If you are in the 'married two kids, two jobs , mortgage, and pressure, scenario , here's my map...
I'm only trying to help.
1/ Get out of debt.
This is, without a shadow of a doubt, the biggie.
It's hard to imagine life without debt, if your quagmired in it.
This is intended.
By the powers that be that wanna fuck you. (and not in a nice way).
Just this action alone of being debt free, will allow you to be able to think clearer than you ever thought possible.
No debt to service, 'to the man'= very little pressure in life...
Having lived on both sides of 'the debt fence', I can assure you that a higher quality of life (and clarity of thought), comes through having no debt.
For you, your spouse, your children, and your social group.
In the coming months of turmoil, thinking on your feet will become more and more important.
Vital, even.
Long term strategies only work when there is a stable future ahead.
The longer term the strategy, the more unaccountable variables there are to add into the mix.
So many unaccountable variables, in fact, that it becomes an exercise in futility.
It's hard enough to plan long term with stability in the world.
Without it?
No chance.
Think about Syria in 2005, and Syria today.
Imagine if you were planning long term in Syria, in 2005, to realize a future in 2030?
THAT is what can happen to long term plans, in a very chaotic world._
Back up, and shorten your plans.
Lower your expectations.
Get out of debt, and think in terms of next year and the year after - not the next two or three decades.
It's something many will not (can not) naturally embrace, especially those people who are not like me with my mindset.
I've been thinking on my feet - on a daily basis- for three decades.
It's not an uncomfortable place for me to inhabit.
I actually enjoy 'living on the edge'.
That might sound strange to some (because it probably is), but that mindset will stand you in good stead for the new reality you will have to face.
This reality that I know so well - is coming your way - no matter how much you wish that it wasn't.
This means adapting to a new reality.
Changing a mindset is difficult.
I can help in that regard.
Get out of debt!
secure your own food sources as much as is humanly possible.
The middle class dream is over - for the next few decades at least.
Deal with it now, by preparing now.
Example.
(I ain't trying to be nice or sugar coat anything, the time for that is over).
Do you spend time at coffee shops, trying out the new pastries?
Your putting your head in the sand to what is going on around you.
That time could have been spent digging soil, and that cinnamon swirl you've bought?
That could have bought enough seeds for a 30 kg crop of tomatoes next year.
Having the spare time (decadence) to be able wander around and do nothing, is over, even if you don't realize it yet.
Deal with it.
If you don't reduce your debts as much as possible now, you're a slave to someone, somewhere, tomorrow.
If you are debt free, you are as free as you can be,in this un-free world.
If you are debt free, you're in the optimum position to be able look after yourself and your family.
In this ultra chaotic world, there is no long term plan.
Liquidize your assets, and pay off as many debts as you can.
Adapting to the coming reality now, puts you in a stronger place, and one to best weather the shitstorm that's coming - One that none of us alive, have ever witnessed...
Because it is, surely, coming.
Plan accordingly.
Pretending that this isn't going to be the new reality, is deciding to stick your head in the sand, and hope with yer arse stuck in the air.
Hopium for a better tomorrow will not stop you and your family from going hungry today.
Yeah we do have a few things in common apart from the pervy photo thing..
YOUR pervy photo thing, if you don't mind.
Mine are tasteful art.
I'm trying to remember when we became debt free; it was a while ago. Aside from property taxes, which are an annual debt we can actually make "go away" now that I am turning 60.
I still find it hard to believe that there are people out there who are "financing" their morning cereal.
The US "stimulus checks" were great. We bought supplies, organic seeds and a load of really good topsoil that will allow us to triple our food production. The guvmint paying us to become less dependent on the guvmint... that's pretty slick! Probably not what they had in mind...
A good allocation of some 'free money', sir!
Been out of debt for some 15 year's now and it is very freeing.👍
....Some people cannot comprehend it, if looking through the lens of debt.
Been out of debt for the most part of my life and also always on the outskirts doing my own thing.
Dept is a trap that enslaves and I am a free soul my friend.
A great post here!
...being out of debt is like breathing a cleaner, superior quality, air, imo.
(And you can only appreciate the difference once you're no longer breathing the pollution).
Thinking itself becomes a different process entirely without 'the stress prism' being involved.
Thank you, sir!
Totally agreed my friend, yet even if they know it, so many become prisoners of the debting traps.
Like vultures the banks circle the young ones, making credit easy to obtain and the naive ones fall so easily for it.
2, 3 or 5 years later for unexpected reasons they lose the ability to cover their premiums and they lose everything that they worked hard for.
We were taught, if you cannot afford it, save up until you can buy it.
But what does old farmers know hahaha.
Cheers and hope that your weekend is going well!
for sure and see people in crypto fall into the traps it has which also includes leasing and borrowing and lending and a lot of crypto (if not the entire thing) originates with the very same institutions it supposedly fights. Being free is as @lucylin says, seeds....I write posts on it and earn whatever uv's whoever tosses at me but I am looking at neighbors having meltdowns while I homestead and bring in another 5 lb.s of food and check off debt. People can dodge reality or pretend that things aren't constantly in flux but a lot of Americans can't even digest the fact they can get off their mostly obese asses and make positive changes that benefit them and others. pardon the language
Totally agreed with you my friend.
By making our own way in life is always the best option and great that you are homesteading.
Sunday blessings to you!
Getting out of debt is first if you want to feel free!
It is the only way, my friend...