# Finally... Will your mind be ready?



## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

*This thread is part of the "Coming Civil War" group of threads.
Please see the Primer/Premise thread --> HERE <-- for context and links to other related topics.*

What is coming will be unlike anything most of us have ever seen, at least not up close. The stories of foreign wars, both sides fighting for control of their spot of land, all seem distant and strange to the vast majority of this country. Those are things done by less civilized societies. They're just backward people living in backward times.
Right?
WRONG!

They are human beings fighting for survival, and trying to ensure the most prosperous outcome for themselves and their progeny. Ideologies may very well be strange, and seem quite evil to our western sensibilities, but they fight for the same purpose nonetheless. They believe they are fighting for what is best, and they will die to achieve it. The resolve that can be seen on some of their faces shown on our evening news is emboldening and a bit chilling. The scared faces of those caught up in the violence, not knowing what the next moment will bring, are gut-wrenching.
Clearly some people are prepared for the conflict, and far more are not.

What is your current mindset?

Are you a grizzled old salt who's seen more than he wants to talk about? Are you a happy-go-lucky and upbeat person who always hopes the best will happen? Are you somewhere in the middle, an average citizen just trying to put food on the table and keep the bill collectors at bay while putting up with boring chit chat from coworkers and visiting the folks once in awhile?
Wherever you find yourself, your world could be in for a drastic shift very soon, and you need to be mentally prepared to handle it.

Will you be ready?

Have you considered how you will conduct yourself if all hell breaks loose around you? Have you contemplated the effects of having to defend your own life by taking that of another? Will it paralyze you? Will you be able to live with yourself? Will you be able to look your family in the eyes ever again?
Are you resolved to do what may be necessary to protect your family, and possibly your country, from an onslaught of people who may not consider your life worthy to keep?
Or, are you best served to seek all avenues of avoidance so as to never reach that point?

I can't tell you what you SHOULD do. Only you can decide that.
But I can encourage you to start thinking about it NOW!

I can still remember a time when I was bright-eyed and saw the world as a playground. I was that way when I started college. A child in the body of an adult. September 11th, 2001 changed that for me. The world was no longer a place where safety was a given. I saw that it could be cold, unforgiving, and murderous, without warning or reason. I saw innocent people choose to jump to their guaranteed deaths rather than endure the flames. I saw the faces of evil incarnate splashed across my television screens. I was given full exposure to the tactfulness, the planning, the tenacity, and the resolve that evil could employ against innocent lives. It shook me deep.

Later, after the shock wore off of our collective lives, and after I had kids, I ran across a professor online who had a video lecture that plainly stated "you would have been a Nazi camp guard". He exposed me to the idea that normal people can be made to do horribly abnormal things if they are not firmly grounded in principle. They must resolve to stand for something long before that thing is ever tested, because if it's only considered in the moment it's tested, it will fail. He also introduced me to what psychologists refer to as "the shadow". It's the scary side of you that can see yourself doing unspeakable things to another human being, things you would never carry out, but things you secretly fantasize about when malevolence begins to boil up.
It's not a bad thing, per-say. It's actually a good exercise to engage your "shadow" from time to time. It's the thing that gives you the courage to say "NO" to the bully, and fight back in the face of impending danger. It's the thing that reveals to you just how awful you could be if you weren't moored to ethical standards and morality. It gives you a glimpse into the minds of psychopaths and serial killers. It shows you exactly the kind of Nazi guard you could very well have been.

This is the side of a person that MUST be incorporated into the complete personality. If ignored, it can explode into fits of violent rage. If incorporated, it can give you strength to oppose what you know is wrong.

It is this "shadow" that I strongly encourage you to seek out and converse with. You are not a bad person for thinking terrible things. You are a bad person if you DO terrible things. Knowing the line between what you would do and what you would not is appropriate, and should be determined far in advance.

Have you considered the internalized ramifications to your actions should you have to end another human life? None of us should WANT to do this. I personally look forward to NEVER needing to.
But we should ALL be ready to deal with the situation, should it arise.
Get to know your "shadow". You'll be glad you did.

*Be ready.*


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## Sasquatch (Dec 12, 2014)

My mindset is strong and ready. What worries me is the mindset of my new family. They are prepped but I don't think they know how bad it could get. Not to mention we have a daughter with a disability.


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## Piratesailor (Nov 9, 2012)

Well, this is probably the crux of it all. What mindset does one have because based on that mindset, one would either actively defend America, withdraw and be silent/hidden or be the guard. I’m sure there are variations between as well. Mindset... prepared.

I’d like to say personally I’m prepared; but I’m not. No one is fully prepared. I’m 100% prepared to defend my life and that of my family and friends with what ever it takes. yes, I will kill to protect them, period. 

But for the rest, I know I’m not mentally prepared for the a total violent upheaval. I think very few are and may will kid themselves thinking they are but they are not being honest with themselves. 

The key then is to adapt quickly to survive and the mindset will change.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Scary part is knowing your head and heart is ready. Knowing what you will do. No doubt. No feelings involved. No my job to figure it all out. My duty is to give others the chance to figure it out.


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

I have a conversations with my shadow on a regular basis so I know for a fact he is a son-of-bitch, always has been. In my youth he was especially mean and nasty. I have no doubt I will do what is necessary without regret, without remorse. If you bring trouble to my doorstep I will not hesitate to put holes in you. The term "life in prison" is of little value to a 61 y/o as a deterrent. Am I prepared for all out war? No, no one is. But my "Shadow" tells me I would adjust quickly and easily. 

I have seen this coming for some time so I have long ago wrapped my brain around the fact that it is not only possible, but likely.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

There are a lot of people with another version of themselves locked inside. They spend years keeping that version under lock and key. It never goes away. From time to time reminds you it is there. a quiet remind I am here you will need me again. I am here.
Some of you will get this others may not. 
Becoming a loving husband, father grandfather was a journey. It did not come natural. It required much help from a great wife . The other version of me served me well when needed but made my life very narrowly focused. Sometimes you must have only one objective. I do not want to go there , but I can.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

Smitty901 said:


> There are a lot of people with another version of themselves locked inside. They spend years keeping that version under lock and key. It never goes away. From time to time reminds you it is there. a quiet remind I am here you will need me again. I am here.
> Some of you will get this others may not.
> Becoming a loving husband, father grandfather was a journey. It did not come natural. It required much help from a great wife . The other version of me served me well when needed but made my life very narrowly focused. Sometimes you must have only one objective. I do not want to go there , but I can.


This is what I call "the beast inside". 
I have seen mine, mine has become flesh. I hope it never has to happen again.

Yes, I am ready.
Those who find that I am a peaceful, friendly, easy going guy may be in for a rude shock to find that this is not because I have forgotten how to be violent.


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## inceptor (Nov 19, 2012)

Sasquatch said:


> My mindset is strong and ready. What worries me is the mindset of my new family. They are prepped but I don't think they know how bad it could get. Not to mention we have a daughter with a disability.


Here it will be my wife and I and maybe one of her sisters. I hope my nephews show up but they now have families of their own. They both know I prep. What I told my SIL is that I can't do this alone. I can't be up and ready 24/7, it's not physically possible. My wife is the oldest but still listens to her sister. Her and my wife finally own a gun they can comfortable shoot and they now know what is expected of them. We all need to sleep at some point. I don't think the bad guys will go for "time out, I need a potty break".


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## inceptor (Nov 19, 2012)

rice paddy daddy said:


> This is what I call "the beast inside".
> I have seen mine, mine has become flesh. I hope it never has to happen again.
> 
> Yes, I am ready.
> Those who find that I am a peaceful, friendly, easy going guy may be in for a rude shock to find that this is not because I have forgotten how to be violent.


I haven't been where you've been but I've seen my share of violence and experienced it. I left that life behind in the 70's and hoped to never revisit it again. But, I know what lies beneath the surface. I keep hoping this will blow over and I can let sleeping dogs lie. More and more it seems unlikely but one can only pray.


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## Sasquatch (Dec 12, 2014)

inceptor said:


> Here it will be my wife and I and maybe one of her sisters. I hope my nephews show up but they now have families of their own. They both know I prep. What I told my SIL is that I can't do this alone. I can't be up and ready 24/7, it's not physically possible. My wife is the oldest but still listens to her sister. Her and my wife finally own a gun they can comfortable shoot and they now know what is expected of them. We all need to sleep at some point. I don't think the bad guys will go for "time out, I need a potty break".


Yep. Lots of variables in all of it. The boy and Hot Nursey can shoot (the boy is an exceptional shot actually) but neither have the "mindset" yet.


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## inceptor (Nov 19, 2012)

Sasquatch said:


> Yep. Lots of variables in all of it. The boy and Hot Nursey can shoot (the boy is an exceptional shot actually) but neither have the "mindset" yet.


The boy will learn. If he understands it could cost him a family member, he'll learn.

I wish kids didn't have to learn this but they will and fairly quickly. What will affect him is what affects most people. The first time you take a life I've read, it takes something out of you. I guess I'll find out soon enough myself as will y'all. But first and foremost is protecting the family.


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