7 Ways to Rekindle the Quest for TruthGaye Levy In recent months I have found myself shrugging in disgust as I browse the web and read the latest headlines. I mumble the words I used to say in the old days, par for the course. I say that as I find myself becoming complacent while reading the latest news of government excess, corporate shenanigans, sneaky banksters and Wall Street crooks. More often than not I feel as though I am sitting on a deck chair of the Titanic, slowing watching the ship go down. Pretty sad, I know. This is not just the alternative press that I am reading, mind you. The mainstream media is slowing coming around, too, as courageous reporters and their editors issue a rally call to anyone who will listen. The message is loud and clear: things are bad, our elected leaders are out of control and any day now our society is going to go to heck in a hand basket. I exaggerate a bit but not by much. Is it eyeball fatigue that is hitting me so hard? My perception is that much of what I read is the same news I was reading three years ago. The only difference is that it has been repackaged, rehashed and refreshed. The cast of characters may have changed a bit but the same tactics of oppression and submission have not. If anything, things are worse. Lest you think this is another of one Gayes rambles, let me get to the point. It is human nature to gloss over the familiar in our search for something new. And if something new is not forthcoming, after a while we drop what we are doing and move on. And that, in my opinion, is what I see happening not only to myself but to many of my peers. Stated more simply, we are becoming immune to the quest for truth. Over and over I ponder this because as much as I write about preparedness, being prepared for a natural disaster is not enough. We must also prepare for an economic collapse, civil unrest and the possible breakdown of society. Emails and comments on my website lead me to believe that others feel the same as I do. I am not a wacko or extremist and neither are the readers at Backdoor Survival. We are ordinary folks of all ages who are worried about losing control in the war against tyranny. Rather than let the bad guys win and we all know who the bad guys are we as preppers are taking back control by storing up food for when the shelves are empty, learning skills that will allow us to live a decent if not comfortable life when the lights go out and establishing relationships with like-minded friends, relatives and neighbors that will help us form sustainable communities when the SHTF. In my own quest to stay focused, I have looked long and hard at my own practices and have come up with a few solutions that in the short term, have revitalized and re-energized my own pursuit of answers to this new reality called the 21st century. Perhaps they will be helpful to you, too. Subscribe to an RSS feed and use an RSS reader to screen for relevant topics This has changed my life and given me back hours of time daily. By subscribing to the feeds associated with sites I enjoy, I can quickly scan the titles of articles that interest me and jump directly to them without worrying about the rest. The RSS reader becomes my treasure map making reading and learning easy. By now it is common knowledge that the Google reader is gone. I have adopted Feedlyand am happy with it but there are tons of other RSS readers out there for you to chose from. It takes awhile to get the hang of how they work but a couple hours of your time will pay off down the road in terms of efficiency and, as a bonus, portability between devices. Cut back on email subscriptions or subscribe to weekly instead of daily updates As tough as it may be to cut back, that is what I decided to do and it has helped immensely. Reading email is a rat hole for time. I normally get over 100 emails a day in addition to newsletter subscriptions so cutting back on the 50 or so newsletters I was getting every day was a dramatic step. I now subscribe to a dozen newsletters that I consider the best of the best. Many newsletters, including my own, provide an option for weekly instead of daily updates. Consider making the switch and see how it works out for you. You still get the news you want, only less frequently and in a digest format. Find a maximum of three news hubs and follow them religiously Being a news junkie is all fine and good but to be honest, even the most ardent of news junkies will burn themselves out. After a while, you are going to realize that the same articles are appearing in multiple locations and that you are spinning your wheels going from one place to another then back again. Everyone has their own tastes and their own style. That said, I have a few favorites and offer them up as mere suggestions. They are Before Its News (Self-Sufficiency), The Prepper Website and SHTF Preparedness. Limit your time on survivalist and prepping forums to 30 minutes a day Face it. Spending time on forums is fun. You make a lot of virtual friends and team up with like-minded people to share thoughts and ideas. As fun as it is, however, you begin to have a virtual life separate for the here and now. Limiting the time you spend on forums will bring you back in to real-world reality and give you some precious time to step outdoors to work in the garden, walk the dog or simply enjoy a sunset. Maximize your time online by looking for the facts behind the headlines Select a website or two that will allow you to look at the facts behind the headlines. My favorites include all of Michael Snyders sites at the Economic Collapse Blog, the End of the American Dream, and The Truth Wins. What I like about these sites is that they are well documented with links to the underlying story or report. Drilling down to the facts that is what I like. Of course I would be remiss if I did not also mention my friend, George Ures Urban Survival site. What can I say? It is news in a wrapper of wit and wry humor. And the coping section is often a hoot in itself. Step back from your prepping activities for a week or two and re-assess what it is you are preparing for Do you remember why you started to prepare? Why not take a week or two and re-assess why you are prepping. Re-evaluate the risks of a natural disaster in your own geographical area and ask yourself if your preps are addressing those risks. After doing that, make your own personal assessment of how you feel about the possibility and probability of an economic collapse or man-made disaster such as a nuclear accident, pandemic or other emergent crisis. Remember, businesses and insurance companies use the term risk management to describe the identification, analysis, assessment, control, and avoidance, minimization, or elimination of unacceptable risks. The same applies to preparedness. It only makes sense to prepare for those things that are most likely to happen to you and your family. Be discerning as you read. Is this credible? Who wrote it? Was the goal to generate fear so that you will buy stuff? Anyone can post anything to the Internet and they do. Always consider the source of the article and come to a reasonable judgment relative to its credibility. Is the author named or was the article created by an anonymous off-shore article factory? Does the article incite feelings of extreme fear and hopelessness with the intent of scaring you into making a purchase? Of all of these tips, this may be the most difficult. There is nothing wrong with a website or blog trying to sell you something. That is how they are able to keep the lights on and offer information to you that is free for the taking. Just be careful with your wallet when it comes to making purchases based on fear-mongering. There are plenty of high-quality products available to you from websites that do not resort to that time of strong-arm tactic. Is there a cure for news burnout? I believe there is. Just realize that it takes a bit of work and a bit of proactiveness as you muster up the motivation to keep the activist fire burning. How about you? Do you have some other ideas that help you stay focused and interested in the quest for truth? Please share them in the comments section so that we all can learn from you. Read other articles by Gaye Levy here. Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation! 