Comment: You have to develop new (old) standards

Ryno,
You are understandably depressed because you are judging yourself by the standards of today's society that puts high value on having *STUFF* (big house, fancy gadgets, expensive degrees, etc) and very little value on knowledge, skill and work ethic. You seem to have the latter things, and that is very encouraging. You are also aware of some truths that many are not, and that puts you ahead of the game.

I would like to encourage you to read historical biographies of some of the wise, brave and inspirational people who made this a great country 150-300 years ago, including our founding fathers, inventors, etc. When these colonies were settled it was with people who had very little of the *STUFF* society values today, and admittedly, some had little or no formal education. But they understood the time-tested wisdom and principles of 1) working hard, 2) being self-sufficient, 3) fostering a strong family unit. Those are the attributes that were respected when America was growing, and those attributes resulted in the greatest prosperity on earth. Those are all things that you have the ability to give yourself, and that is where self-esteem comes from, not from how much *stuff* you have. Those standards are TIMELESS, and if you Judge yourself by those standards you may deem yourself rich indeed.

You don't have to wait for some luck to fall into your lap in order to teach yourself how to grow a garden, hunt, build or repair some of your own stuff, develop a close network of family or friends that work together, specialize in skills and barter them. Even when you don't have a lot of money, you can use what you DO have (knowledge, skill, work ethic) and thrive on that. My mom, for example, is a seamstress. For many years she was a stay-home full time mom, and we lived in a small house with one (old) car. But we never had a shortage of clothes. Not only could she make clothes for us, she could make them for other people too. She still does that work for others. She shops at resale shops for cheap materials. She gets paid in cash, but she could just as easily trade that skill for car repairs, organic vegetables, or something else she needs. Same for my dad, who worked 30+ years for a utility company, but always loved woodworking, and still creates beautiful products. You can retire from a "job," but you never retire from knowledge, skill and work ethic.

So, you can be prepared for the worst, but expect the best. You can look at having a part-time job as an *opportunity* to learn the skills that will keep your family well, through self-sufficiency or barter, if the SHTF. If that never happens, those skills can still enhance your life under any circumstances. Hey, maybe along the way you will even meet a soul mate who shares the same principles. Either way, you can feel good about yourself without caving in to the shallow material standards of "success" dictated by modern society.

To sum up: find a useful skill you enjoy, specialize in it, keep yourself prepared for the worst, but focus today on what you CAN do and not what you can't. God Bless you, I hope to hear an update from you!