A Self Reliance Tale
This blog is about self reliance.
This blog is about survival.
This blog is about self-fulfillment and nourishment at our own doing. All alone. It’s about looking inward and assessing our own personal needs, desires and daily tasks, and defining which of those things we can do completely on our own. It’s about willpower, strength, and survival in today’s world and relating to the heavier topics and the light ones.
I hope it serves as inspiration - my self reliance tale.
The truth is, we can do hard things. When placed in a survival situation, our bodies innate responses take over - eliminating the option of leaning to another for help. We aren’t even in control of this, it’s like an autopilot, and it’s not something we usually rehearse for. Entertain me for a moment and imagine a situation of life or death - such as being faced by a bear or other predator on a hike. What do you do? Naturally, your sympathetic nervous system is awakened and you choose to either run or stand your ground. You panic and freeze or you shout something barbaric from deep within your being. Whichever response you choose in that moment, you choose it innately. You choose action versus reaction. Now let’s apply that to today’s world.
Today’s world is vehemently overwhelming. Whichever side of the coin your beliefs fall to, or if you’re somewhere in the middle (where I believe most still are) - the topics we’re inundated with are heavy. Vaccine choice and medical freedom, mask mandates and travel/recreational activity bans, censorship of free speech, loss of hard-earned jobs, segregation and gaslighting, fear mongering, racial divide, the list goes on. As many of my like-minded peers are also self-discovering, I quickly realized that I have so far lived a comfortable life dependent on others. Whether this applies to my work ethic and resulting paycheck, my grocery store trips for our weekly meals, my past educational participation and my nursing degree, or even just my sense of internal value for being a part of society, my partnership and identity as a wife and mother, my desire to pursue wellness. These are all things that I have sought from others. These are all things I have willingly participated in for a resulting benefit. Ignorance really was bliss but it was also a ball and chain.
So with today’s world - I’m sure some of us have had these thoughts already too - let’s entertain a new situation. Imagine this instead:
You aren’t allowed into grocery stores unless you show proof of vaccination
Your child can no longer attend public or private schools unless you comply with the medical mandates
You are sent home from work and let go because of your beliefs, and now are left without the ability to make ends meet
Your best friend, family member, or partner have disparingly different opinions and therefore relationships are severed
Or even events not related to today’s trending news topics - we can entertain other situations such as:
Your spouse or sole provider of your home is injured and can no provide financially
You develop food allergies or intolerances that make it impossible to buy mainstream food items without a reaction
You lose a tire on a solo road trip miles from home with no cell service
You’re home alone and hear a potential intruder attempting to come in
You go through a hard breakup, feel completely isolated in your own skin and slip into depression
You find yourself addicted to the following and response of others on your social media platforms
Are you seeing it yet? Do you get where I’m going with this? These examples are another type of bear. These topics are the new predator that faces us on our hike. It’s the dependency.
So in an act of fight or flight - which do you choose? Do you act, or react? Do you use the situations above as fuel, or does it tear you down? In a day of feigned-dependence on our government, let’s learn how to rely on ourselves first.
I want to encourage you to stop leaning on others for gratification, sustenance, belonging, survival or reward and start leaning on yourself instead. Hold yourself up. Get up. Prepare and educate, practice and sharpen so you can do it your damn self.
The hardest truth I have learned is that no one is coming to save you. We have to save ourselves. It’s not the job of my husband to provide for me or make me happy - I have to be able to do that first. It’s not the purpose of my employer to make sure my bills are paid - I have to put in the work first and learn how to manage my finances, and plan for what I’d do if I didn’t have that job. It’s not the job of the grocer or the farmer to feed my family - I need to know how to do that, as well, without them. It’s not the responsibility on anyone else to make me happy, I have to be happy and fulfilled on my own in order to fully receive that love.
See? This is a self reliance tale. Can you rely on yourself for these things, first?
I’ll share a list I made a while back of things that I want to learn how to do on my own, and I encourage you to start with a list as well. It doesn’t have to be fancy or perfectly contrived, just jot down a few things you are dependent on and a few things you want to learn how to do yourself. These may be tasks, practices, or items that you use every day. Here is my list:
How to replace a hose or belt on my car, change a tire / how to grow my most used fruits and veggies
How to hunt, appropriately slaughter and process game meat / herbalism and teas for ailments and wellness/illness
Re-hone my skills for sewing and mending, creating thread from nature / re-learn and practice ASL / suturing and tourniquet technique
Homeschooling and age-appropriate curriculum for Liberty / storage of fuel supplies such as gasoline and propane, lighter sticks and rolls
Learn how to can and preserve / multiple streams of income and entrepreneurship / candle making / water purification techniques
Firearms training courses and ownership of my own pistol / fermenting / menstrual cups and intuitive family planning / soap making
Yoga, pilates or dancing for body movement and mood / meditation techniques / energy healing and reiki / address book for my friends and family
Basically when I created my list I imagined multiple situations where I would feel helpless or out of control, or where I would seek guidance or answers from my phone, the internet, or others. I did that first and the list became easy to make. What things would I feel helpless with at a time of civil unrest, what items would I need the most that I should store or learn how to obtain from nature, what are some things I’ve always wanted to learn. I tried to think of multiple instances, with anything “if I had nothing but a compass and had to find my way home” down to “If we ran out of toothpaste how could I make my own” or “Do I know my family members’ phone numbers without just using my phone?”.
Make your list. No matter if the topics are serious or silly.
Make your list and actually write it down. Then, we implement.
You see, this isn’t just a blog post to dream about ways we can be self-reliant. This is a challenge from me to you. I challenge you, after you create your list, to enroll yourself in a course / ask a friend to teach you / pick up a book on - one of your topics from your list and then actually do it. If you need some inspiration for your list, here ya go:
What are some household items you use the very most? Do you think that’s something you could make?
Could you defend yourself in an attacker or intruder situation? What would you need to learn first?
What foods does your family love most? Can you grow it? Raise it? Harvest or process it? Store it?
See those clothes in your closet? Could you mend or alter them yourself if you couldn’t buy anything new? Can you create your own?
It’s time to write your own self-reliance tale
Write out your list, define your goals, take the class. Then come back here and share what you’ve learned!
The only person responsible for your well being, survival and self sufficiency is YOU.
Write out your list. Sign up for a class. Learn that new skill.
You can do these things. You can become self reliant in a time of uncertainty. You can find happiness by focusing on your own self-improvement. You can trust your intuition with these newfound skills. You can thrive in your independence. You can do this.
Just, you.
You can write your own self reliance tale. And I’m here to cheer you on from the sidelines.