In these very strange times worldwide one gets the feeling that there really isn't much one can count on these days, not government, not jobs, not even ones own business, credit etc.
In this climate it is important to figure out what one actually can count on, oneself. The spirit of self reliance is what always has made America great. The qualities of surviving anything, inventing our way out of any crisis, flying by the seat of our pants, figuring a way out when no one else can or will. This is what is has always meant to be an American, at least one of the Americans that survived whatever came in their lives.
Yes. We are the sons and daughters of those who survived anything. Can we do less than our forebears? It is time to accept the challenge of surviving whatever comes now. This may be a completely different life than any of us ever expected. But taking and interest in figuring out a way to survive it is ALWAYS the first step.
I have been in classes designed for passenger aircraft crash survivors in remote areas. The very first thing they teach is to take an interest in how to survive every moment and how to be efficient about it. The ones who get lost in blaming themselves or someone else keel over and die first. But the ones who take an interest in their survival and the survival of those around them survive and sometimes even prosper in these situations. So taking and interest and planning and sometimes just putting one foot in front of the other, walking, can save one life or 10 or 20 or 2000 or even 2 million. One good idea can sometimes save a whole city of people, just one good idea!
So, let's figure it out.
One way to start would be to familiarize oneself with what one would be capable of alone or with their family or the group of people they live with. realistic assessments save lives. Unrealistic fantasies sometimes cost lives. So realism and pragmatism is what we are looking for.
One way to see what you are made of is very simple. Just go camping if you can afford it. Maybe right now might be the right time of year but for some of you who are experienced maybe the snow and cold is the perfect time to test what you know about yourselves. To see what you can do and what you can survive. However, it is always best to do these things in small increments so one does not put oneself unrealistically in a situation there is no way out of. One does want to survive. After all, the point of all this is to test ones mettle and not to die doing it.
For example, I learned while studying with a medicine man that not drinking water or eating food for four days while praying in the wilderness is what American Indians did for thousands of years to get visions about who they were and what they needed to do. next. So, first my good friend's girlfriend went on a vision quest, then I did and finally my friend did. We all chose the summertime and we all went 4 days and nights without food or water.
Now, many of you might say, "What a crazy thing to do!" My response would be to say that this was one of the single most useful things I have ever done in my whole lifetime. First, it taught me many many things I would never have known about myself. It first taught me that being a human is a far different thing than I had ever even considered in my whole life. At one point about 2 days without water or food I got very irritated with hornets bothering me and pestering me. I decided that since I had slowed down my perceptions from no food or water that I might let the hornets clean my nose since that seemed to be what they wanted to do. I had heard that aborigine's in Australia sometimes let them do that. So I sat very slow while hornets climbed up my nose and cleaned my nostrils one by one. I talked to these hornets as they did this and they did not sting me so it was a symbiotic experience. It taught me many things I did not know before.
The next thing I learned was how vivid our perceptions are when we don't eat food or water after about 2 days. There are ways to perceive that I had not even considered before. There are senses that open up during these times that are completely amazing. One could still carry on a conversation if one had to but it would be a little strange but very different than being drunk. It would be more like having your dreams and your reality start to merge. You still physically know what's real but all your dreams waking and sleeping become much more vivid and overwhelming so being in a safe place is very useful during this time. During a lot of this time I prayed for visions from God to guide me and when they came it was mostly at night. In one vision I became a gigantic Golden Dragon that breathed fire upon thousands of people. But they did not burn up because I was breathing the fire of enlightenment upon them. This vision was so powerful it led me within 2 years to Tibetan lamas in the United States and India and Nepal. This vision changed my life. There was another vision also that was very profound as well. These two visions have stayed with me ever since. This all happened in 1983. So even though it is 25 years later now, these visions are still as real to me as when I experienced them so profound and life changing were they.
The other way this experience changed my life was that I was no longer afraid of being without water or food for 4 days. Yes. I'm older now but because I know myself in this special way I don't fear starvation or thirst as I did before this experience.
Though I don't expect all of you to do this I'm simply saying it is good in times like this to know what you are made of. So if real difficulties come down you don't just lose it. You need to find a way to go on and to stay as rational and calm as possible no matter what happens in your life. For this is how all our ancestors learned to survive anything and how we all got here. Know the truth and the truth will set you free!
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