Sounds like me,,,

A long read for ya, that isn’t mine, but,,,,

He goes on about that ‘Calm Mind’ thing and even quotes Musashi (one of my early studies and beginnings in philosophies.) Musashi was a huge influence on me since I was reading the Book of Five Rings when I was 12,,,, Shit like that carries with you, and may not seat well for years, but it DOES SEAT EVENTUALLY.

that calm mind thing,,, Too many times I have been in a situation where the people around me are shitting bricks and I am just calmly ‘putting out the fire’,,, In two instances, EXACTLY THAT, putting out a fire. My motorcycle caught fire while I was working on carbs, GF freaking the fuck out, even screamed, and I calmly (but very quickly) walked across the garage to the fire extinguisher and did what was needed. No thought about it, just deal with the problem quickly before it escalates (and blows that tank of fuel sitting right above it, sky high). Later she commented; ‘I’ve never seen anyone move that fast!’ but I felt like I was taking it easy. Another point was when I caught myself on fire while welding. No panic, just get the flames out and deal with the burns (if any, there weren’t) later. I did get warm,,,, 😛 I never panicked,,, just slap out the burning pants and watch for smouldering points that could flare back up.

You meet people and sometimes you can see that ‘mindset’ in them. Some it only comes out when shit’s gettin’ heavy. and some, when the shit’s gettin’ heavy, fold like deflated balloons or go full panic mode, running around like their heads were on fire. B is one that I have seen go cold and precise when the heats on: thats the window into his head of ‘no panic, just deal’: that mind of clear water, able to flow and fill the gaps as needed.

Or like we were taught in the Corps: doing nothing will get you killed, doing something can get you killed, but doing something will likely get you through. Improvise, adapt and overcome. Right or wrong, DO SOMETHING,,,

You can’t live in the future,,, you can plan to live there, but HERE, NOW, is where you live, how you approach that says more about your state of mind than any words you can declare.

Am I a prepper? Yup, but I don’t LIVE prepper,,, I consider it insurance, like life insurance, or car insurance. You invest for the bad, but you don’t marinate in it. I have seen some that dived deep into that prepper mode and dug in so deep they can’t find the way back out, and live exist in a constant state of ‘what if’. FUG that!!!! I have no control over solar flares, mad dictators with nukes, or economic time bombs. I can only deal with today as it arrives, plan for worst case what if’s, and be flexible enough that if plan A shits, I fall back to whatever DOES WORK, there is no plan B,,,,(or is that my plan B? Improvise, adapt and overcome? Yah, likely, I am a MacGuyver after all.) I have my little homestead, water, power,,,, Basics, really. And I know there may be a day where I have to walk away from even that. (always have two exits planned,,, I have three, maybe four, but ain’t sayin,,,) Why would I ‘just walk away’ from all I have built? Because I can do it again: BUT ONLY IF I AM ALIVE TO DO SO. Now there may come a day where I won’t be able to say that: too old and beat down, loss of willpower, brain injured, what have you. And when that time comes, I Stand. I may die on a pile of brass. I may die in my simple bed: NO ONE KNOWS, and I am not one to waste a moment thinking about HOW, but what I am going to do between now and then, and try to get it all in,,,

I prep. And I keep on livin’