Life B.O.B.

You might like to know that there is a contingent of our society that worries about the impending implosion of civilization, and actively prepares for it. Some are what you might call survivalists. You see them on reality TV. Some are ex-boy scouts who, as you know, are always prepared. Some are ex-military, who have been trained to deal with the implosion of civilization, or ex-public safety officers who deal with it every day as their job. Others are just people with too much time on their hands. Whatever their background or personal reasons for concern, they do have a point.

To fully understand their point, we should first deal with a little terminology—don’t worry: you needn’t be fully acronym compliant to understand any of this—B.O.B. stands for “Bug-Out Bag.” A Bug-Out Bag—oh, let’s go back to BOB ‘cuz I’m lazy and it’s easier to type—is just that: a bag containing items that may come in handy should the occasion to bug-out arise. Why should anyone need to bug-out you ask? Well, according to people who admit to having BOB’s, it could be almost anything: terrorist attack, natural disaster, Martian invasion, or the ever-popular zombie apocalypse. BOB aficionados like to say they have BOB’s for when SHTF (you can probably figure that one out). Basically, it encompasses the entire range of dire circumstances that would so disrupt life as we know it, that you’d be better off leaving town…in a hurry.

What, pray tell, would you find in a typical BOB? Based on my limited research, the contents seem to be as varied as the BOB-owners themselves. Their selection of items tends to reflect their personal philosophy, level of survival skill, coping mechanisms, and their overall view of their fellow man. Typical items include compasses, batteries, knives, flashlights, fishing line, bits of inner-tube, medical supplies, mirrors, whistles, duct tape, hanks of rope, or for the more astute bugger-outer, paracord and many other multi-use bric-a-brac. Those who have a dim view of their fellow man will be sure to include actual firearms and ammunition. Be that as it may, the whole idea is to have just what you might need to survive in an uncertain environment for a few days without having to carry two or three tons of gear. Again, the idea is to go small, move fast, and get to safety, which when you think about it, is a pretty good idea in an emergency.

It’s such a good idea that the more I thought about it, the more it occurred to me that we would all do well to prepare an all-purpose “Life BOB.” No, I’m not talking about an actual bag containing gear only Rambo would recognize, but incorporating a set of ideas and skills into our lives that will see us through the “thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to” (apologies to Bill Shakespeare). So what would go in the Life BOB? No worries, like any good survivalist, I’ve made a checklist that you can adapt to your own situation. The best part about my BOB is that all the items are free, easily available, and highly portable. Here you go:

1] Carry no debt – This may be easier said than done, but the principle still holds: When you owe money, you are a slave. A slave has no freedom of action. What a slave does, how they do it, and where they go, are dictated by others. I’m sure we all know people who were grievously impacted by the economic downturn of the last few years. It might even be the person in the mirror. When bad times come, you have more options when you don’t owe a lot of money to others.

2] Have less stuff – This goes with item number 1. As Americans, we are generally more affluent than anyone else in the world. Our culture is built on the idea that whatever we want we can have and right now. The bad thing about that is the tendency toward acquisitiveness. We end up wanting the latest and best or at least the different. The more we give in to this tendency the more it takes over our thinking.

George Carlin did a famous bit about people and their stuff. He said that your house was just a place to keep your stuff while you went out and got more stuff. It’s funny because it’s true. Too much stuff makes it hard to move. Too much stuff clutters not only your house, garage, storage shed, trunk, tree house, or wherever else you keep it, but it clutters your mind as well. You become attached to your stuff, you worry about your stuff, and you can’t change direction because you’re carrying around too much stuff.

3] Be generous – Don’t be afraid to share what you have with others. Call it karma, paying it forward, casting your bread upon the waters, call it whatever you like, but by sharing what you have, even if it’s only a little, you help a fellow traveler along the road. When you are down and out, someone just might be generous to you.

4] Learn to cook – Huh? Are there no McDonalds?  It seems you can’t drive down a road in the world that doesn’t have at least one restaurant. True, but what if you can’t afford to eat out? Are you going to chew gum and hope Paula Deen happens by with a spare fried chicken? Making tasty, nutritious food for yourself is much easier than you think, and it’s a whole lot less expensive.

Can you read? Then you can cook. No, it may not come out perfect the first few times you try it, but like anything worthwhile, practice makes perfect. Try simple recipes at first. You’ll be amazed at how the skills you learn making those simple dishes transfer to ones that are more complicated.

5] Develop diagnostic skills – Is it plugged in? Is it turned on? Very often in life, it’s the little annoyances that cause the most trauma. Rather than slinging that remote control through the TV screen, try checking the batteries. Diagnosing the cause of a problem is a skill that is not always easy to come by. It requires being able to think rationally, methodically and creatively, incorporating all your experiences with how the world works. Regardless of whether you are trying to diagnose the reason your toaster won’t toast, or why your son is ignoring you, the same skill applies. What is the root cause of how this thing is supposed to work? Why might it not be working the way it was intended? What can I do about it?

6] Develop a pioneer mindset – As with cooking, a basic ability in mechanics, carpentry, and gardening is something anyone can develop if only they will overcome their fear of failure and their impatience with trying. A wise friend once told me that when something is broken, you can’t break it any worse by trying to fix it. Who knows? You might just succeed in repairing it. What a relief it is to know that when the washer conks out, you have a good shot at fixing it yourself instead of shelling out hundreds of dollars for a new one.

Need a birdhouse? Build it yourself! Like tomatoes in your salad? Grow your own! Moreover, just like with cooking, you’d be amazed at how one little success in any of these endeavors translates into the confidence to tackle bigger, more complicated projects. When you can make something last by maintaining and repairing it yourself, or feed yourself by the sweat of your own brow, you not only save money and resources, but you also give yourself a tremendous feeling of accomplishment. And you have another way to be generous with your neighbors.

7] Take care of yourself – I mean physically. And no, you don’t need to be able to compete in triathlons, but let’s face it: most of us could do with a little toning and trimming. As we age, it gets harder and harder to catch up again once you fall off the wagon. When you’re generally fit, you feel better, you look better, your outlook is more optimistic, and you have less dependence on seeing the doctor for prescription medicine. You also tend to avoid the hospital more. Life happens, so there’s no point in making a religion out of your health as some do. Good common sense is the rule here. Moderation in everything. Besides, if the zombie apocalypse should arrive, you can outrun everyone else.

8] Believe in God – What good is life if there is no purpose to it? Mere altruism is a only a start, but as a sustaining philosophy of life, it is incomplete. Whether we want to admit it or not, we are all created in the image of God. The Divine imprint is on each and every one of us. When we reject this fact, we doom ourselves to slogging through life, alternately feeling great when things are great and lousy when things go wrong. Our successes and failures ultimately have no meaning, because life itself is meaningless.

The reason for that is simple: we never lift our eyes off ourselves. Even our acts of selflessness and generosity become nothing more than exercises in self-aggrandizement if they are not rooted in the belief in a loving and just God who sees all and sustains all. Getting to know God, leads to a relationship with the Creator of the universe. That relationship sustains us, it flattens the hills and raises the valleys of life. When things are good, we remember to remain humble because those times will pass. When things are bad we have hope, because the God who made us and loves us, will bring us out of them again, to a place where there are no more tears and no reason to bug-out.