This article was originally published by Selco at The Organic Prepper
Talking with people who are involved in prepping and meeting them in my survival courses shows me some problems that people have while they meet other survivalists, in real life or online. This is true whether they are trying to learn something or while they are trying to transfer their knowledge to other preppers.
In the end, it all comes to the few same problems that can really get in the way of your survival. One of these problems is unwillingness to be uncomfortable. Whether it is physical discomfort or mental (hearing things you do not want to hear) it is a very real problem if you cannot handle this.
Everything else is a matter of will, skills, and equipment.
The “Mr. Anderson” phenomenon
There is a man – we’ll call him Mr. Anderson here – he is interested in survival and where the world is going these days. Of course, he is looking for information about these subjects on blogs.
And then he finds the information that is worth reading and following.
But one day he decides with righteous indignation to stop to following that blog because he read in that blog articles with words like “f**k” or “s**t”.
He furiously dismisses everything in that article. And not just that article but the whole blog because words like that clearly show to him that the author is not a good or decent person.
He refuses to read one word more.
There are two very important points here in terms of survival and prepping:
Our system made us this way.
Mr. Anderson is the product of our system and society, and we are all Mr. Anderson to some extent, or at least we were at some period of time.
Mr. Anderson is a man who is preparing for the time when it all goes to hell, for the moment when there is no law, food, or water. When he will be forced to do things that are hard…
Mr. Anderson is preparing for hell, and he can not cope with the word sh*t?
Sorry folks, but that kind of preparing is just that – sh*t.
You can not prepare for a really bad time based on feelings and the norms that system gives us today – in normal times. Otherwise when SHTF you will end up again guess where?
In sh*t.
Get out of your comfort zone and look for correct information. That’s all that matters. For a lot of people reading an article with “bad” words is exactly that – getting out from the comfort zone.
You think you are prepared to shoot at people who will attack your family? But you cannot cope with bad words?
Nope, you are not prepared.
Get used to being uncomfortable.
One of the main takeaways from my survival courses for me is that everybody wants to be prepared for hard times but the majority do not want to feel uncomfortable during the course.
Even worse, most of the folks are preparing for SHTF but do not want to feel uncomfortable even when SHTF.
During the courses, getting students outside of comfort zone is different from student to student, sometimes it is sleeping in an abandoned building with the possibility of some (some) danger.
For others, it is simply lack of functional shower.
But the majority of them usually get into the situation where they test their skills and knowledge while they are outside of their comfort zone, and that moment is actually when you see that your skills and knowledge are actually good.
Train outside your comfort zone or you’re going to have a bad time.
For those people who never tested themselves while they outside comfort zone problem is much bigger, simply because they do not realize they have a problem in the first place.
Usually, the majority of them put a lot of effort into preparing themselves to be always comfortable when SHTF. In other words, they want to live completely same life when SHTF as they are living it today and they investing money in that.
In essence, there is nothing wrong with investing money in having a life when SHTF being same as it looks today – if you are a multimillionaire.
If you are not then you are usually mixing up two important topics: necessity vs. comfort.
Necessity is what you really have to have. Comfort is only after you’ve covered all the necessities.
Your real survival skills will show up in the moment when comfort is gone.
If your comfort is gone while you are reading survival posts with bad words do not run, count it like being outside of comfort zone, your real learning may start there actually.
Mr. Anderson just wants to feel comfortable all the time.
Mr. Anderson probably gonna have really bad time once when SHTF.
Wake up, Mr. Anderson.
***
About the Author
Selco survived the Balkan war of the 90s in a city under siege, without electricity, running water, or food distribution. In his online works, he gives an inside view of the reality of survival under the harshest conditions. He reviews what works and what doesn’t, tells you the hard lessons he learned, and shares how he prepares today. He never stopped learning about survival and preparedness since the war. Regardless what happens, chances are you will never experience extreme situations like Selco did. But you have the chance to learn from him and how he faced death for months. Real survival is not romantic or idealistic. It is brutal, hard and unfair. Let Selco take you into that world. Read more of Selco’s articles here: https://shtfschool.com/blog/ And take advantage of a deep and profound insight into his knowledge and advice by signing up for the outstanding and unrivaled online course. More details here: https://shtfschool.com/survival-boot-camp/
Please feel free to share any information from this article in part or in full, giving credit to the author and including a link to The Organic Prepper and the following bio.
Daisy is a coffee-swigging, gun-toting, homeschooling blogger who writes about current events, preparedness, frugality, and the pursuit of liberty on her websites, The Organic Prepper and DaisyLuther.com She is the author of 4 books and the co-founder of Preppers University, where she teaches intensive preparedness courses in a live online classroom setting. You can follow her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter,.
When the going gets tough ………….. the tough start having fun!
When the going gets tough, the tough go drinking!
I will be comfy on my deck watching it unfold sippin’ wheesky. Not much will change except going to town for stuff. That reminds me to get more buttwipe….
People that grew up poor or had military experience can probably survive better, because they had to learn to endure a lot of adversity when they were young. The military was a good test. Little sleep, crappy food, little food or water at times. Inclement weather, to put it mildly. And not being able to just pack up and leave. Having to endure for the duration of the mission or training. The more miserable we were, the funnier it seemed. Unless someone got blown up. We were soaking wet, cold, tired, hungry, and it wasn’t going to end any time soon. We would just look at each other and laugh at our predicament. Endure. Survive.
I forgot about the snakes and insects.
Him
They taste like Chicken.
I don’t know about you guys, but I think of the worst case scenarios and try to figure my way out. I do this about 3 times week.
Because you really can’t get too far from your safety zone no because you know just one step back you are back in it.
Sgt.
Him, good points. I grew up poor and have a lot of experience with adversity in my younger days. I’ve been out there with little sleep, crappy food, little food or water at times. Inclement weather. And middle-class snobs who had no problem being a bully toward anyone who was less fortunate than them. But I learned how to endure and survive all of that shit. I could go back to it easier than a shitload of people out there if it ever came to it. Yes, the poor and those with a military background can and will survive no matter what.
Actually Athletes such as myself who have trained and trained for years, easily understand pain thresholds and how to break through the pain wall and it just becomes another hurdle you crossed and normal, and gained a new heightened proficiency and endurance. I used to swim 10,000 yards a day. That’s like what, 6 miles.. I am in my 50’s now, and still go for bike rides 17 to 30 miles and accomplish that in just 1 to 2 hours. And same with kayaking, 5 miles in a couple of hours on the weekends for upper body arm strengthening. So many people who never participated in endurance sports have no idea what endurance is, and will stop the first time they get tired. This will all be part of the great culling, weeding out the lazy fat asses from the masses. I also have been living 100% off the grid for 3.5 years now and I have been uncomfortable many times. Here in FL it is just the summer hear that wipes a person out and I sweat a lot, so I need to hydrate my self, because I know my body well. Obey your thirst. If you get thirsty, its already too last. Hydrate early before you go exercise. A person can lose up to 15% of their body water daily just in sweating. Do the math o that for how much you need to drink.
I wacked the tail off a water moccasin the other day, before he drug himself into the thickets escaping me. I usually try for the head but he was moving too fast. RE: Insects. How many of you have prepped with sheets of insect screening for your doors and windows? You need to keep your house vented, and not closed up in the summer, and with a grid down, you will bake with the doors closed at night and sweat to avoid insects. So get your insect netting, sheets and sheets of that for your BOL Camp. Go camping in the Hot summer and the cold winter. As the athlete saying goes, you hurt yourself in practice (push it to the limit), so you don’t hurt yourself in the race. (when it counts) Selco is right spot on My Man!! Also get all your preps now in peaceful times rather than scavenging for them in SHTF grid down civil war times that may come.
I think that mr Anderson must have a really important position in society like a public figure who has to be politically correct to receive his perks from big buisnesses or money people.
these bastards invented the words shit and fuck but don’t use them because its above them.
but when the shtf realy does happen, then those bastards wont last long with there millions backing then up ,because in shtf big time ,money is as useless as a politition.
fuck shit mr Anderson you wanker
Good thing about hard times is that the obesity rate disappears real fast.
The Venezuelans know alot about those shortages and weight loss. They ate all the zoo animals and there is a thriving black market for toilet paper….and with swarms of Communist transsexual snowflakes in public office, America could look like Venezuela too!!
Rumor has it that the T2 Diabetes rates in America dropped during WW2 due to rationing.
The Mr. Andersons will be culled early on. If you look like food, you will end up being eaten(H/T to Clint Smith).
I dont really care about oversensitive weenies,
Its going to boil down to adapting, simple, adapt or perish
Mr. Anderson took the “Blue pill”, and remained in the “matrix”!
Does anyone suddenly feel like following “The White Rabbit”?
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https://youtu.be/ztABYog5x3o
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Never mind SHTF, just living a normal life and being half way successful demands pushing yourself into areas outside your comfort zone.
Most people fail because they are so afraid to fail that they don’t even try. The real tragedy is that some of the most able, some of the most gifted are also the most self critical. They are so sure they aren’t smart enough or good enough so the prize winds up going to someone else much less worthy, but willing to make the move, willing to take the risk, willing to go beyond his comfort zone.
_
Learn the skills people had in the American frontier prior to electricity, especially how they coped with harsh winters.
We’re preppers/homesteaders in Maine. We’re outside our “comfort zone” October through April… and then some If people want to survive a shtf scenario, I highly suggest you practice & learn to deal with hunger, extreme temperatures, and hard times. Develop some forbearance; otherwise, you’re already lost.
In one form or another, these words are in the Bible.
Some people seem to have no filter. (Whigger Tourette’s.)
Or, they use ‘the universal adjective’, until the energy wears off.
I am nice to animals and think happy thoughts. Mine know these words and hide from them. It’s meaningful, in an emergency, I-am-being-scalded, or something-is-crashing kind-of way, not like Chicken Little.