To a lot of people, the self-reliance community can seem like a never ending want list producing a total at the checkout with quite a few zeros. I call this “Allure of the Stuff” and the largely incorrect thinking that more of X will make you better at Y. This post is about the opposite of that.
This is a photo of my late mom, Rosella. She was of tough Romanian stock and grew up in the western coal fields of Pennsylvania. She patiently taught me to read and explained the Bible stories to me with the pictures. As the first child of the family there was really NO question of whether I was going to the university for education, it was just a matter of which one. America was full of opportunity after WW2 and I was slotted to enjoy a good portion.
My folks didn’t have a lot of money; dad was blue collar and mom took care of the household. But they thought through things and employed their minds in creative ways. So we were rich in the more important facets of life.
In my teen years, Mom registered for the other political party while Dad stayed with his original. Her thinking was that if I needed a nomination to attend a military academy one of them would have pull with whatever flavor of swamp creature was our congressional rep at the time.
When I started learning to program computers and reckoned that was my vocational track, Mom made sure I didn’t slack on my piano lessons. I learned a decade or more later her reasoning was: “In case this ‘computer stuff’ doesn’t take off you can always get a job playing in a jazz bar.” Dad made sure I could run a lathe and wrench on a car.
Hospitality was the name of her game and there was always a spot at every holiday table for my friends whether from school, work or church. Really whomever was in my tribe at the time, not just family.
Mom invested her money in people whenever possible. We were raising money to ship the body of the fellow I mentioned in Just Playing Around back to Mexico for burial. Mom immediately opened her purse and handed me a bunch of cash with the eternal words “No mother should ever have to bury her son.”
Mom was very protective of her kids so I was shocked when my folks bought me a 50cc motorcycle. “If you’re old enough to learn calculus and physics over the summer while still in high school, you probably won’t break your neck.” She was 100% correct and I can still wiggle my fingers, toes and ears.
This wasn’t intended to be a memorial to my mom but she is the best example of this tradecraft ‒ making use of what you have on hand. Here are a few other examples which come to mind.
Physical training (PT) ‒ you don’t need to join a gym to get in shape but you do need to start moving around, ideally with resistance. Gravity is free everywhere. Even the most simple repetitive actions like raking or shoveling snow will build core strength and tone your muscles. I put old bricks in my backpack and go for a walk up the street.
Get a handle on those vices ‒ you know exactly what I mean. They make you less effective in mind and body and no long term good comes of them. I’m not nagging you but I do know first hand of their insidious dissipation.
Spend time reading ‒ not on a screen. A real book. Balance knowledge with pleasure in a short recalibration of your time. I have a chair here in my office and I use it only for reading. No phone, nothing other than turning paper pages. It’s partially a mind game but it does work.
Engage in acts of service ‒ I know many of the readers here already do which is probably one reason they stick around this blog. If you have young children you may have just thought “Dude, I serve them all day!” to which I gratefully reply “Well done!” But then there is the rest of us who convince ourselves we are too busy for such things. Look, it doesn’t have to be grand, just intentional.
Spiritual training (ST) ‒ This is just as important as physical since the future is likely to present us with things we’ve never seen before in our developed world. It
couldwill be jarring. I’m not telling you what to do but if you rely on a god of your own fabrication you’re just kidding yourself and you’ll come up short. Aim higher.
I was there to see first hand how to live a profitable life without deep pockets even though I didn’t recognize it at the time. Spend some time thinking about it for yourself. Do you need the latest LED headlamp, fire starter, pocket knife or whatever high speed gear you’ve just seen or can you gain some ground by using your sharpest tool? It is right there between your ears.
Press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. - Calvin Coolidge