Doomsday Prepping

Hubby's a huge fan of Doomday Preppers and now Doomsday Castle (which I like as well). Some of the preppers are glorified hoarders and just plain crazy while other preppers are prepping for economic collapse. Could it happen? I used to laugh it off but these days, I think it could. We're in debt. The government can't make a decision for the life of them. They are playing games and wasting time. Currently there's a furlough which means government employees are forced to stay home without pay. Does that sound like a flourishing economy?

While I'm not about to go buy a bunker and live on a farm, I am seriously considering how much I value things. We value money. We all work hard for money. But eventually if the dollar means nothing, what are we working for?

I was extremely lucky that my parents paid my college tuition. This allowed me to get out of college without debt and with one foot forward. But these days, college tuition is higher and salaries haven't really increased so how are people supposed to pay off their college debt? Grants and scholarships are a thing of the past. So you have to wonder if a college education will be obtainable for the vast majority of Americans. If not, what's going to happen to the future of our country? To add fuel to fire, did you know that it costs the same to go to Harvard for 4 years and to be imprisoned in NY for one year? I kid you not. See this article. Why we spend so much money on convicts is beyond me. Instead, we should spend money on grants for smart children that don't have the means to pay for college. Simply put - we're doing it wrong.

I'm not trying to be depressing just trying to highlight the fact that we all really need to think about what matters most - family, friends, etc and worry less about "getting ahead". While important, money comes and goes and sometimes, it's not in your control.

There's a Hindu saying (I apologize if I got this wrong, my Mom mentioned it to me the other day) that Goddess Laxmi, who is the goddess of wealth, is fickle and will leave you but Goddess Saraswati, the goddess of Knowledge, will never leave you once she is with you. Knowledge is more important than wealth. I remind myself of this daily to not get hung up on stressing about money. When things are out of your control, you can't really stress them.

My first ever half marathon is scheduled for this weekend. I just received notice that if the shutdown is still in effect Friday, that the half marathon is cancelled since it's at a National Park. So not only does the shutdown affect the many government employees, Hubby included, that are not getting paid, it also affects other more fun aspects of our lives.

Here's to hoping the furlough stops soon.