The “Real” Value of Learning New Survival Skills
Let’s just admit what we all know: The odds of a natural or unnatural apocalypse happening this week where you live are about as high as the federal deficit dropping to zero by the end of this year. Possible. But not likely. So why on earth would any sane person spend time preparing for “the worst case scenario”?
Your answer may be different but here is mine:
I don’t like safety nets provided by other people. They make me feel weak. If you need to borrow food from a neighbor, you should do so. But if possible, you should be the neighbor who provides the food. If you need to be on unemployment until you find a job, you should do so. Don’t get me wrong. A good and moral society needs safety nets. A good country takes care of those who cannot take care of themselves. But that is not how I plan my life. A wise person once said: “God helps those who have exhausted all of their resources and never before”. That’s scary and comforting all at the same time. Scary because I rarely have exhausted all of my resources. Comforting because I have been at the “end of my rope” and yet found a solution that had nothing to do with “my” resources.
C.S. Lewis said: “ A ship is safe in the harbor, but a ship was not designed for life in the harbor” I can’t speak for you, but here is what I know about me. I like to feel safe but I know I wasn’t designed to live life in the harbor. I am alive when I am at sea. When I am away from the shore I learn about what I am made of. When I travel farther away from the harbor toward the unknown, my mind and body is expanded toward what else I can accomplish, who I can help, where else I can go and what more I can learn. When I stay in the harbor, I am looking at my neighbor’s boat. How much bigger it is than mine. I worry about my anchor rusting and whether or not it needs painted. But not when I am at sea. At sea, I am looking to the horizon. I am living in the moment. I am preparing for the future. Every time I expand my ability or my knowledge, I am venturing a little further “out to sea”. My job is to make myself a better person….never to judge my neighbors boat….and definitely not to rely upon my neighbor’s boat simply because I have not kept mine seaworthy.
To be certain, most people never “need” to be able to run 26 miles without stopping. That is not why people train for a marathon. Few people will ever need to be able to lift 250 pounds straight above their heads, but that is not why people lift weights. And I may never be in a situation where I need to prevent my children, or myself from dying of hypothermia by building a temporary shelter. But that is not why I learn survival skills. I learn survival skills because I want to head out to sea. I have seen the view from the harbor. It’s a nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there.
If this makes sense to you, I hope to see you at one of our events….but if not….I know our ships will pass elsewhere on the open sea!
Safe travels,
Todd.
Captain of the ship here at Escape the Woods.