The Prepper Broadcasting Network - The Strange Truth Episode 6: Renewal Pursuing a Happy Life

Episode Date: November 8, 2024

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My name is Carl B. I'm going to be your host today. I'm gonna be your host today and we're gonna talk about a really interesting topic here we're gonna talk about renewal you know the year just started a lot of things have happened we just came from a pretty challenging year in 2020, right? We're now in 2021. And it struck me that I need to pivot. Pivot away from just all the unpleasantness, you know, everything that's going on. And it's a choice that I'm going to make.

And, you know, I'm going to renew myself. I'm going to renew certain aspects of my life. I'm going to choose to pursue a happy life. I am gonna choose to pursue a happy life. Welcome to PBN for the listeners out there, before I really get into my ramble here, I just want to encourage everyone who's listening to this, if you're not already a member of PBN, I'm going to ask you to join the network. work you will you have access you'll get access to a lot of really great members only content pbn is just a mine of of prepper information I believe that we might be one of the really few prepper outlets out there that, you know, we have live shows. You know, we have some of the best content out there. You know, we've got Ryan Buford of the next generation he's he's on on Tuesdays we've got I am the I am Liberty show with James Walton the intrepid

commander you know he talks about current events as well as you know anything prepping yeah there if you're interested in learning more about you know firearms and gunsmithing then there's Dainty on Thursday we also have the NBC guy Dave Dave Jones. Dave is like super pepper. He always has some project that he's working on. And it's just phenomenal just to listen to all the stuff that he's doing. he's doing. We have Jay Fergie from A Family Affair and she's on on Saturdays. And of course we have you know we have Stephen Manking on Sunday and Future Dan and Ben Cochran, Patriot Parar on Tuesdays as well. So we have a variety of shows, hours and hours and hours of content and you know to support the network I would advise that you become a member because it really does help keep us, keep the network afloat. So, yeah, I really thought about this, you know, with everything that's going on right now,

I think that people well we all have to make a choice right with all the stress of COVID and lockdown and trying to get our lives in some kind of working order, it can get pretty stressful, and, you know, I have to admit that, you know, I, I, you know, I am feeling a little burnout, right, because as a prepper, you, you know, we prepare, right, we're always, we're always involved in some little project, prepping projects around the house. Whether it be food or building something or testing something. During the summer, it was a lot of gardening and taking care of... I have quails and taking care of animals and along with you're doing all of this stuff along with your regular life that's what I'm saying and sometimes that can get a little stressful and one of the things that I want to encourage all the listeners to do is self-care okay take

care of yourselves you need a break as well if you are the primary person the you know the prepper in the family or if you and your if you have a spouse and and of course you share uh some of the load you have to you have to take a break sometimes right and just practice some self-care take care of yourselves um so i decided that I would pivot away from all the negativity to a more positive outlook on things and you know I wanted to bring more happiness into my life I wanted to be available, mentally available, you know, for my family. So I decided to begin this cycle of self-renewal. I really had to ask myself the question, you know, what makes me happy, right?

I think that we all do from time to time. You know, you ask yourself, are you happy? An important question. And I realized that, you know, it was far easier to just dwell on why I was not happy versus why I should be happy, if that makes any sense. Versus why I should be happy. If that makes any sense. To my chagrin, I realized that I, you know, I think I was really used to just thinking about all the really negative things in life. It had become a real pattern. it had become a real pattern and a lot of that was due to the consumption of social media,

news sources from the internet because as I said, as preppers, we're always looking for what could go wrong and how to deal with that right uh you know we we all care about our families and and i think that uh you know we we tend to be on the lookout a lot of times for uh you know the things that could go wrong and and i think that affects us in a lot more ways than we realize, a lot of times in a negative way, actually. So, yeah, I, you know, I realized I was more used to thinking about all the negative things in life. So I asked myself why this was so, and I realized that, yeah, you know, this was so and I realized that yeah you know I was primarily just focusing on all the negative things and and I decided you know I I decided that I kind of want to have a little bit more balance in my life you know there are are times to think about the negative things. But, you know, life will throw us curveballs, right? And we have to respond break that cycle from time to time just for our own health.

It made me look up the effects of stress on the human body. And it's really shocking what I found. I'm reading from WebMD here. Stress can lead to physical symptoms including headaches, upset stomach, elevated blood pressure, chest pain, and problems sleeping. Researchers suggest that stress also can bring on or worsen certain symptoms of diseases. And in a time when we all really have to try to make sure that we have healthy immune systems and that we're as healthy as possible. Being stressed is not the way to be at this point

with COVID and everything else that's going on. I'm reading here it says stress also becomes harmful when people use alcohol, tobacco, or drugs to relieve their stress. Unfortunately instead of relieving the stress and returning the body to a relaxed state, these substances tend to keep the body in a stress state and cause more problems. So what I would suggest to the listeners, people listening to this podcast is, you know, leave the alcohol and the tobacco, right? And any kind of drugs, leave it all behind if you can. Leave it behind. It doesn't really help. I'm reading here to say 43 percent of all adults suffer adverse health effects from stress.

Seventy five percent to 90 percent of all doctor office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints. Stress can play a part in problems such as headaches, high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, skin conditions, asthma, to, okay, so I'm feeling a little stressed, what can I do about it? And what are some of the best ways to deal with it? I realize that, yeah, it really does cause a lot of problems. So how to get away from this state of mind, right? Well, I think that a lot of preppers, especially people listening to this podcast, right, they're probably pretty upset about what's going on. And there's a lot to get people upset, right, between COVID, the lockdowns, what's going

on in the political arena. Some people, you know, there's are out of jobs, right? They can't, you know, get ends to meet You know, no job means no money Means sometimes no food People are suffering And if you're listening to this podcast You know, we understand We understand that it's very, very difficult out there.

You know, we really do have to try and take the time to reconnect with what's important in our lives. Reconnect with what's important in our lives. And if any listeners, if you do have a little extra that you can donate or give to someone who is less fortunate, then I would encourage you to take that step to do it. Because there is a lot of anxiety and stress out there so yes you know looking about me and and everything else I realized that I need some self-care I need some self-care so So I, you know, 2020 was just a train wreck for most people. You know, it's incredible how many people lost jobs, lost loved ones, either to the sickness or, you know, to some, you know, ailment or, and, you know, people have lost their sense of security.

Many people went from, you know, normally spending time with loved ones and friends to being alone and isolated because one of the real side effects of COVID, right, is all the isolation that it has caused people. 2020 was a year when nothing was normal, you know, from buying groceries to going to church. Now, maybe you're like me, feeling a little burnt out, a bit overwhelmed Maybe you got caught up in all the political drama and maybe you still are Just remember Remember when the Democrats and their allies, right, when they lost the election four years ago,

how did they react to it? They raged. They plotted. They schemed. Right? They lied. They looted. They burned.

They showed all the worst parts of the human psyche. For four years they indulged in the worst parts of human behavior. And for all the people who responded to it, to the attacks? How did all this negative energy affect their health? You know, there was all of this fighting going on, right? Not, well, in some cases, not necessarily physical fighting, but emotional fighting. I mean, you know, a lot of this stuff tore families apart.

COVID did. The politics did. It tore, it really tore the nation apart. How did all this negative energy affect all those people? How did it affect their health, their well-being, their own connections to happiness, family, friends, and even God? And let us learn from the most recent history as we head into now properly into 2021. Let it be a year of renewal for you as well. I am going to try and make it a year of renewal for me.

Pursuing happiness for me. renewal for me. Pursuing happiness for me. I am going to pivot. It's a pivot. It's an emotional pivot. Let us all pivot. Pivot away from all the negative things, all the negative vibes, right, that cast a shadow over our lives. Let us spend the year renewing ourselves. A group of people spent four years Raging. I don't want to do that. I don't want to spend four years raging.

Is it going to do any good to rage? I don't know. I don't want to spend my time and my energy that way. I don't think being the best human being, I don't think being the best human being, that does who is trying to be the best individual that they can. George Washington said, Happiness depends more upon the internal frame of a person's own mind than on the externals in the world. So what are some of the things that we can do to renew and enrich our lives? Well, you know, how do you de-stress, right? You know, I want you to be thinking about it along with me here. How do you de-stress, right? You got to find ways to relax. Let's start there. Let relaxation become a part of your daily life. Not something that you just do on the weekends or you know

whenever you get that downtime from work. downtime from work you have to relax not just your body but your mind as well now to relax the mind right you know there are a few things you can do right there's some you can try breathing exercises. You can meditate. As a Christian, I can meditate on God. I can say a prayer. I can think about God's awesomeness and love for a couple of minutes during the day. Love. For a couple of minutes. During the day.

If you're a Christian. You know. Praying is. One of the most effective ways. To de-stress. I think that a lot of Christians. Probably don't think of it. Or think of the act of praying that way. You know we're in communion with God when we're when we're bringing our

petitions to God but it's but it's also very cathartic right it really does relieve the mind. You can also you know read or watch or listen to something calming or funny you know laughter is healthy right? You know there you know find something that you can you can you can share and and have a laugh. Relaxing the body is also important. Find a way to release physical tension. There's something called progressive muscle relaxation, which is tensing and relaxing each muscle group. You can Google it. You can do a little bit more research on it. They say you lie on a soft firm surface and you just relax certain muscle groups, right? You tense them and

relax them and that helps your body to relax. It relieves tension. Go for a walk. That's a good one, right? Go for a walk. Get out into nature. Here's a good one. You know, soak in a warm bath.

Maybe it's time to get that hot tub that probably you've always wanted or you've got an eye on, right? Maybe it's time to get that hot tub that probably you've always wanted or you've got an eye on Maybe it's time to get that hot tub It's a great way to relax Have a spouse or a loved one Have them give you a massage Use a foam roller or a stress ball Drink some water or some soothing tea. Read, listen to a book. Find a quiet place to be alone for a few yourself. You are worth it.

You know we're not we're not like ants right that they just pretty much work themselves to death. They just keep going once you know once they are born, right? They're just live machines. They just work themselves to death. Take care of yourself. Another good way to renew yourself and renew certain aspects of your life is to reconnect with important people in your

life um one of the things that uh covid did as i mentioned earlier right i you know it really did disconnect us from our loved ones to us to a certain extent Some people more than others. Okay. We got disconnected. With family members. Acquaintances. Friends. Reconnect. Zoom.

Skype. FaceTime. Pick up the phone. Send an email, a text. Whatever you have to do, reconnect with those people in your life. You might not even understand just how much of an impact calling that person that you haven't spoken to in a long while might have on that individual. It might make their day. It might make their week or their month Knowing that you are actually Thinking about them That you

You actually Care about their welfare And there you're not only Just kind of helping yourself You're helping somebody else Try to have your relationships Stronger after the pandemic rather than weaker. That's a thought, isn't it?

To actually, after all of this, to actually build stronger and have stronger relationships with our family, with our friends, with our God. with our family, with our friends, with our God. You can also get on that lifelong dream or project, right? You know, that has nothing to do with prepping. Okay? Listen, there are a million prepping projects that preppers will have. There's a never-ending slew of things, you know, as preppers that will pop up every day. Okay, but it also is good to have something out there, something that's not connected to prepping. Something that, you know, is enjoyable and important to you.

And if you don't have it, then maybe you should look about you and maybe you should find it, right? You know, find something that's not connected in any way to any part of your life that gives you stress. Any part of your life that gives you stress. Okay? Not connected to prepping, not connected to work, not connected to politics, not connected to social media, anything like that. It should just be all about you. You know, it could be that special thing you always wanted to do or to build or to, you know, to see. You know, it's really important to just have your own, your own time. And as I said, during this time of COVID, of prepping as inherently selfish, right?

But in my experience, it's completely the opposite. In my experience, I see preppers not only trying to protect themselves, but a lot of preppers are really trying to protect their families, to protect their friends, their community. And in doing so, I think sometimes we find ourselves stretched a bit thin okay as as a father of two children and someone who has a regular nine-to-five job and you're

trying to keep all those balls in the air, right? You're juggling a lot of different social responsibilities. It does get a bit stressful. And sometimes you find that you're stretched too thin. You know, most preppers, you probably find that you're the person that everybody comes to to talk to, right? They have a problem, they come and talk to you. You're the sounding board. And a lot of times, other people don't realize that even that takes energy you know to sit there and to listen and to be supportive does take energy

a lot of times you will sometimes find that maybe you're not getting that amount of support from other people and that's because they come to you for that support. You are the strong person, the strong individual. If that's the case, then yes, find a way to de-stress. It's important to find a way to renew yourself this year. I'm certainly going to try and I'll keep you guys updated as to my progress.

Another way that you can also de-stress is to immerse yourself in love. The highest form of love, right? Love your family. Love your spouse, your special person. Love your children. Love your children. Love your work. Love your God. I want this year for me to be one, yes, renewal, but it's also one of happiness. It's one of love. I saw what after the election, all these people are just raging, raging.

And I realized that I don't really, I don't want, I don't want that. As a social commentator, as a writer, yes, there's, you know, there are times when I will focus on those things. As a podcaster, yeah, you know, I will speak about relevant things. But then I leave them behind, right? When I'm with my family, I just want to be with my family. I want to spend time with them. Time is such a precious thing. Last year, my wife, she lost her mom.

She lost her mom to cancer. Her mom was a really young woman in her late 50s. And it made us realize just how precious time is. I remember all those vacations that we took as a family together. All you know parties and dinners and I realized that that's what's important it's not necessarily about who's in power and all this other stuff right those things are important but but spending that time with your family and with your loved ones creating memories that's important

so I I'm gonna go on my journey right I'm gonna go on my journey, right? I'm going to go on my journey of renewal. I'm going to go on my journey of love this year. I want to connect with my wife. I want to connect with my wife I want to connect with my children be a good father to them I wanna I want to connect with my God Those things I think are going to be Are important to me And I'm going to try this year

And I will keep I will keep you all Apprised I will keep you up to date on how I'm doing To try to de-stress and de-clutter my life. I want to share a few things with you before we go. I, from time to time, I'll read, you know, this publication online, this online blog, right, American Thinker.

It's a great blog. And, uh, there is, uh, a writer there. His name is Chris Boland. Uh, he writes, uh, some of them, some, some really remarkable, uh, articles, you know, um, about life, about just connecting with, yourself and um he uh he published the recent article it's called a blackout in which we cancel the culture and i'm just going to read a a part of it to you it says the average american spends more than half his waking hours looking at a screen, a computer, a television, a tablet, or the ubiquitous smartphone. A certain percentage of this is productive, work-related uses such as spreadsheets, word programs, and the like. But an enormous block of time is consumed by our need to be stimulated and entertained.

enormous block of time is consumed by our need to be stimulated and entertained, what is often overlooked is that the stimulation and entertainment we consume changes us and changes the way we experience our lives. This article he writes about how he's part of a Catholic men's program titled Exodus 90 where they completely disconnect from the world for 90 days. It seems like they start at the beginning of the year and they end on Easter Sunday and according to the article there is no television no radio no social media no movies no pop music no texting it's complete abstinence from contemporary forms of entertainment and stimulation

What a wonderful What a wonderful Thing What a wonderful idea I I said it in a previous podcast Right And I said well you know what Take some time

Disconnect Not from PBN but disconnect right disconnect from from Facebook from Pinterest from you know Twitter disconnect put that phone down reconnect with your family reconnect with your life reconnect with your God you know

it's not just about the external worldly things, right? It's about the spiritual things, the spiritual part of our lives, which is so neglected these days. When I was, you know, doing a little bit of research for this podcast, I was looking up love. I was looking up Bible verses for love.

And there are a lot of them. And I also remember that Jesus himself said that. If you're a Christian, right? You're not really off this world, really Right? And I think that in some ways You know, it was like Give unto Caesar that which is Caesar

Give unto God that which is God, right? I think that that is a great way of Of looking at things too The world throws a lot of stuff I think that that is a great way of looking at things too. The world throws a lot of stuff at you. Okay? But listen to what Jesus said, John chapter 15, verse 19. He said, if you are of the world, the world would love his own. But because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Right? He made a lot of statements like that love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man loved the world the love of the father is not in him he made a lot of statements about that. You know, it's not... What happens here is important. But it's not the ultimate reality. It's not the ultimate truth. We all have a spiritual life, a spiritual side too. spiritual a spiritual life a spiritual side too and and that poor soul that inhabits are the body sometimes it's just so neglected right

So I think for me anyway, it's time for me to completely renew, right? Exercise the mind. Get stronger. Exercise the body. Reconnect spiritually with God. Renewal. I think that one of the most beautiful passages I've ever read in the Bible

about love is from 1 Corinthians 3 chapter 13 sorry chapter 13 verses 4 through 8 and it says listen this is listen what it says about love. Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. It does not dishonor others.

It is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth always protects always trusts always hopes always perseveres love never fails but where there are prophecies they will cease where there are tongues they will be stilled where there is knowledge it will pass away love is the eternal thing. God is love. We are wired to love. And when, and when that is out of kilter, right? That's when, that's when we, we become stressed. That's when our lives,

that's when the, the color of our lives goes out. that's when the color of our lives goes out so I'm going to spend this year renewing myself reconnecting with the important things reconnecting with my family, with friends, with loved ones when all of this is done and over with, I want to be able to say that I became stronger because of it. Not weaker.

to spend a year trying to be what this passage says a person should be. Patient, patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not proud, not dishonoring other people, not self-seeking, not easily angered, not keeping account of wrongs, not delighting in evil but rejoicing with the truth protecting trusting always hopeful persevering of my life, of my being that I would like to strengthen this year, to practice this year. I encourage everyone to come along with me. Let's make this a year of renewal. Let's make this a year of positivity not negativity. let's make this a year when we look back on it, we can say we grew. We grew in our spiritual lives.

We grew in our personal lives. That we extended our hands and our help to those who needed it, that we did not spend the time chasing all these other negative phantasms that cloud our lives. A lot of things to think about. Right? So thanks for listening. I will keep you all up to date on how I'm doing with this pledge. I will pledge that I will

Begin this process of self-renewal And I'll let you know How it's proceeding from time to time Thank you for listening to PBN This is Carl B For The Strange Truth And Take care of yourselves. Teksting av Nicolai Winther Thank you for listening to the Prepper Broadcasting Network,

where we promote self-reliance and independence. Tune in tomorrow for another great show and visit us at prepperbroadcasting.com.