SurvivalBlog has a contest.

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And I am considering entering it. The prizes? Nice, but not really why. I doubt if I have a winner, if a little work could at least get some notice. Even a nod would be sort of a 'whatever' thing. What I would like to do is activate people. Here is the very rough first shot.

I Can’t Do It!

I am a disabled man. The exact name of the illness is not even known to me. The end result is a need for sleep that I struggle through every day, exhaustion as if I had gone to bed at 22:00 and woken at 0:00, and live my life like that. My ability to function, of course, is severely impacted. Getting to the grocery store, at times, has been so difficult that I have lived without food for a week at a time. So, I buy in as large of quantities as is possible, when I do go. That was my life for nearly 2 decades. I had quit all medicine as none of it really worked. High blood pressure and diabetes became additional concerns. And life was feeling a little constrained.

For whatever reason, I began to dream of mountains. I dreamed of owning a house. I was thinking of living with a more conservative people, at that time I lived in an ultra-liberal enclave in Iowa. I also started thinking about survival. As bad of shape as I was in, I also knew that the rest of the country was in bad shape and that it was only going to get worse. And so it has. So, I started to plan. Initially my forays into online information was, I would say, recreational. It was until it wasn’t.

Two years ago, I began speaking with a neighbor, who happened to be from Utah, about some of these things. He, a family man, earning is doctorate in English, was definitely on a different track. Though, I think, he would have liked many of my ideas ideally, he had a wife, children, and career which would not allow for much of my ideas. Still, he ended up being an exceptional source of ideas. Actually, it was he who suggested Utah.

Last year, in spite of all of my issues, and with a great deal of assistance, I packed up my belongings, moved to a bigger city for the region, and began putting plans into action. It has been a brutal year. I have moved 4 times, sum total. I have lived in a retched college dorm type place, then a decent house, and finally my own home… on lend from the bank mind you. I have had help with moving. I have made friends with a few of the locals. But I have learned and grown a great deal beyond that life I had known.

In my new place, still unpacking, and after having figured out a bit about plumbing, I am just now getting to the actuality of food storage, long and short term. I am considering alternative energy possibilities if those are a bit off, I am looking into the possibility of a well. Of course, I am also looking at preparing my home, the grounds, and my gear for a serious decline. So much yet to do, and yet so much done.

I have done this over my health issues. I have done this while wounded, cutting the index finger in half a month or so ago, and I have done this all against all odds. I have no great fortune and do not make much, if it is a bit secure. I have even learned to live without air conditioning. Though I may get a device for my Mother’s visit, I am changing myself.

All I am saying is, if you think you can’t, you may be quite wrong. Just don’t expect to do it in a day. I am far from done, but I am also far from what I had thought was home. My changes are coming in spits, and now encompass every part of my life. Nothing I do, used to do, or consider doing is not viewed and reviewed in the light of what I am learning. But it does not stop there.

Though still ill, still crippled to a degree, I am beginning to come to much greater stamina and function. I am not as tired, if I still must push pretty hard to simply get out of my chair. I am learning about electricity, plumbing, rainwater catches, on and off grid energy systems, and food preparation, and so many other things. I am in an engineering level, full court press, educational system about survival living and prep. Even my high blood pressure is good, almost as good as the best medicine they ever offered, though without the need to sleep 18 hours to 3 days at a time while taking it.

Really, if you want to do this, you can. What it means is going out of yourself. Whether it is your job or a disability which keeps you occupied, you will have to tend that AND THEN do this. It is not easy. Luckily for me, many of my natural inclinations such as where to live, and my interest in the outdoors from fishing to hunting to hiking and camping, have lent well to these plans. Still, I had to get out of bed, I had to leave my computer chair, and I had to do a lot of work. I have a lot more to do. If I can do it, the choice for most regular people is absolutely in their own hands.