12 Life Lessons for Patriots, Preppers, and Everyone Else

By Tim Gamble

All my links: https://linktr.ee/timgamble 

I originally wrote this essay in 2019. I think it bears repeating from time-to-time. 

12 Life Lessons for Patriots, Preppers, and Everyone Else

1. Take responsibility for your own life. A big part of this is learning to be self-reliant, not waiting around for your parents, your teachers, your boss, your friends, or even the government to tell you what to do, or to do things for you. You are responsible for your own life. Even when bad things beyond your control happen to you, you are still in control of how you respond. Your life, your responsibility. 
   
2. Be honest. In the short run, it may mean some pain, but honesty is truly the best policy in the long run. Lies have a way of making things worse, and usually get discovered eventually. Also, always keep your word. And never cheat people. Develop a reputation for honesty, integrity and good character.  
   
3. Life is unpredictable, so be adaptable. Life is full of surprises and unexpected events, tragedies, and opportunities. Developing your adaptability is the best way to deal with the unexpected. 
   
4. Get married early and stay married. This runs counter to modern advice, which says to put off marriage until you "grow up", build a career, mature and know what you want out of life. But in reality the opposite in true. Married people, especially married men, mature faster, are more responsible, work harder, and are more ambitious than their single peers. Married people tend to be happier, healthier, and live longer than single people. 
   
5. Who you know is often more important than what you know. It can be hard for modern, highly individualistic Americans to admit, but we all need people. Life is not a solo sport. Lone wolves rarely do well in the long run. Shelve your ego. Meet people. Make friends. Network. Build community. Be a part of other people's lives, and let other people be a part of your life. This will pay many, many benefits throughout your life. 
   
6. Don't compare yourself to other people. Instead compare your current self with your younger self, and always try to improve on that younger self. This will be both emotionally healthier and more effective than comparing yourself to others. Always be improving over your former self.
7. Take care of your health. Your health and fitness is immeasurably important to your life, success, happiness, well-being, and preparedness. Your physical health, along with your spiritual health, will determine your future more than anything else. 
   
8. Avoid debt. Spend less than you make. Sound advice, but how many of us really follow it? Not many, apparently, since credit card debt is at an all-time high and personal bankruptcies are surging. 
   
9. Be a builder, not a consumer. Modern civilization is set up to make you into a consumer. Corporations and the government need you to spend as much money as possible. This is good for them, bad for you. Be a builder instead. Build savings. Build a business. Build a homestead. Build a family and a life. Sure, you have to buy stuff along the way, but be smart about what you buy. Don't mindlessly consume, no matter what Uncle Sam  and his puppet masters in big business want you to do...
10. Go for quality over quantity. The one with the most toys when they die, still dies. Life isn't about accumulating stuff. Preparedness isn't about accumulating stuff, either. Be more intentional about the way you live your life. Quality beats quantity. In preparedness, the temptation is to buy everything at once, but money is always a factor and many folks end up buying cheap gear they can't depend on this way. Buy a little at a time so you can afford better, more dependable gear.
11. Take care of your stuff. Sure, it costs money to change your car's oil every three months, but it costs a lot more to replace a blown engine. Taking care of your stuff pays big dividends over the long run. 
    
12. Develop your relationship with God. This should be the number one priority of your life. Not your career. Not your spouse or your children. Not your reputation or your bank account. Take care to develop this, and all else will turn out okay. Make prayer and Bible reading a daily habit. 
    

These are the lessons I've learned in my life, usually the hard way. Had someone given me this list when I graduated high school, and I actually followed it, I would have avoided many of my mistakes, and would be in a much better position in my life than I currently am.

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