Hi guys I wanted to say how much I appreciate ya'lls conversatin' with me on this topic. I will check the book store to see if Rawles' survival book is there and scan through it Shooter; I probably won't read the novel though.
I wanted to revisit Mick's view of my fatalist attitude. It's been popping up in my thoughts and perhaps writing it out/ being subject to your peer review may prove helpful.
I am sure military training is very helpful in many aspects of one's life. Remaining cool under fire is a "good" thing to know about yourself should things really go to hell. However, I believe it will not be quite the same. One may have a great sense of comfort knowing the whole rest of the army has your back. You have communications, air support, supply lines, and I think, sometimes R&R. Not the same as you and your grand daughter plinking thugs while your son-in-law applies pressure to your daughters wounds; or however it plays out 24/7/365.
If you really tried to think of every possible scenario, after awhile wouldn't you just take up wingsuit base jumping, rocket sled racing... who'd wanna try to live through all that misery of a worst case scenario?
My experience in construction, working with professionally trained architects and engineers, skilled sub-contractors and detailed schedules has proven to me that Plans are not worth the paper they are drawn on. Near nothing happens according to plan, most cause and effect is beyond one's control. Should things go well you may believe you have made your own luck, but what happened last time or next time. Things happen because they happen to happen when lots of different people and mother nature are involved. All we can do effectively is establish a broad base from which to react.
Maybe that is the same thing as envisioning every possible scenario. But the way I see it, creating a mental movie of some event and arranging a specific reaction is very limiting. While maintaining a grab bag of generalized skills, knowledge, a strong foundation of The Basics gives you the fluidity to handle the things you couldn't have imagined when the time comes.
Placing myself into the natural flow of the universe; its Divine purpose if you will, is proving to be a great benefit to me. We all have our individual beliefs, and I hope yours will serve you well. Part of what I try to practice(i'm not perfect or enlightened yet) is acceptance and surrender. To some these words may sound passive, and fatalistic. Truly they are not.
It is simply a way to deal first with what is primary-your internal condition. Whatever situation arises, I choose not to label it as good or bad- it just is. So I may think; "It's hot out here" rather than "This sucks". Acceptance is not resignation. "oh here I am in the scorching sun, I'll probably have a stroke" No, I do what I know to prevent hyperthermia.
Surrender is much the same. (I'm not sure how to separate the two at the moment.) It is the same as non-resistance. Just as martial artists are taught not to resist their opponents force; one should not create internal conflict by resisting any situation, such as wishing you were somewhere else or that things were different as examples.
Doing(practicing) these things can(will) give you a sense of space and peace without all the internal noise that comes with labeling everything as good/bad/like/dislike. It brings you into the present moment. You are not acting from fears and limitations collected in the past, nor projecting yourself into a fantasy future where everything is "all better".
Being in this state will allow the unseen, nonexistent force to operate through you. I believe Mick meant this in a way to say: not real. I can agree with that. To be real, to exist in the material world you have to be a thing. "God" is "no thing", as I understand.
Scientist can observe electrical impulses in the brain and identify them as thoughts, but they cannot observe the thinker- where is he?
So that all this remains on topic let me say then, the best first step toward preparedness is to have your mind in the right place.:)
Well, if you think about it, most big situations are not caused by a single event. They occur after multiple, small interrelated events finally reach critical mass. That's how people get caught in avalanches and lost in the woods.
They either ignore or are oblivious to the warning signs. Hmm, sounds like modern society
