I read this quote this weekend in Backwoods Home Magazine. I don’t expect to do something great but the quote made me think.

“He or she who would do some great thing in this short life must apply him or herself to work with such a concentration of forces, that, to idle spectators, who live only to amuse themselves, looks like insanity!” – Parkman

Looking around our society, I believe that the vast majority of people are spectators living strictly in pursuit of their own entertainment. When your main goal is the consumption of entertainment you are probably not producing or creating anything meaningful or beneficial. Chances are you are either a slave to or significantly dependant on a fragile system that could leave you in a bind at any moment.

You are probably unprepared for even a temporary power outage let alone a total loss of services for a week, 2 weeks, a month or more. Look into the eyes of your spouse and or your children, what is your plan when something happens? Is it realistic? You can’t depend on the system or even your neighbors because they aren’t ready either.

Entertainment is good but like all things too much is a bad thing. Entertainment is like a drug, the more you enjoy the more you think you need. We have been lulled into believing that the system will always be there even when the fact that it can’t be, is staring us in the face. Just look at the natural disasters where there was several days notice and people didn’t act until the last second, if they acted at all. The stores are cleaned out of food, water, and other supplies.

Occasional entertainment is a good thing and more appreciated. When it is frequent it isn’t appreciated and becomes expected. It also prevents us from doing the things we need to be doing in order to prepare for life. Life happens. It’s not a matter of if the power will go out it is a matter of when. What if it’s not just the power? What if the stores can’t be replenished because of some disaster, natural or manmade?

I challenge everyone who reads this to go to their cupboard or pantry and take a look. If you don’t see enough food, water, etc, to last at least a week without a trip to the store, set a goal of correcting this before your next trip out to the movies or dinner. Instead of spending $50 or more on a game spend it on nonperishable food and water.