Patriot Express Newsletter Edition #197
Greetings and welcome to the Patriot Express Newsletter Edition #197. Can you believe it? Getting closer to edition #200. Seems crazy in ways. Never expected this to go so long and without missing a week so far. Close a few times but so far so good. Thanks for being here with us again this week. We appreciate it much.
It was a busy week on this end. I was in Huntsville most of the week and followed the heavy storms from Alabama back to East TN on Thursday. So, I pecked away on this newsletter from my lodging location here in Huntsville, AL in order to get this out on time Friday. It was nice to be back in northern Alabama again with fellow Patriots. I was doing my day job for a few days and caught up with HFS Patriots in the evenings as time permitted. Once this is posted on Friday evening, I will then work on a training class to be presented to another group about 90 miles away in the Cumberland Plateau region on Sunday. I will get to spend a few hours with Festus also so that makes it good and worthwhile. I need to stop through the Plateau region from time to time to make sure Festus is staying in line and out of trouble ya know.
Ms. Lucy and I get to have dinner with some local HFS Patriots in our hometown to start next week. Life is good don't you think? When life is surrounded with good people who are positive influences and likeminded, how can anyone complain? Do you surround yourself with positive people who are good for you?
I got to enjoy a great evening with the HFS Huntsville Patriots over dinner and lots of laughs and good conversations. Thanks to the folks who could join us and joined in the conversation on preparedness, hope, positive thinking and more. It is always my pleasure to be with these fine people. Some heartfelt discussions took place, concerns, and suggestions to fix or overcome preparedness challenges. Keep charging and working hard on your preparedness plans.
I want to let our California readers know I'm thinking about them and praying for their safety. Your weather is out of control since before Christmas. Stay safe and dry. Make sure you have some survival stuff packed in floatable tubs in case you have to bug out quickly. Build them now and have them in a vehicle in the event you have to flee quickly.
Welcome to new HSF Patriots from Nebraska, Illinois, Delaware, and North Dakota. Come join the preparedness journey.
Let us move along....
Communications: You can now follow HFS social media on the following outlets:
Facebook – Hope for Survival
YouTube Channel – Hope for Survival
MeWe: - //mewe.com/p/hopeforsurvival2
Odysee - Hope for Survival (odysee.com)
Parler - Preparedness101
HFS Thursday Zoom Session 101 - No zoom this week.
Check out HFS YouTube Hope For Survival - YouTube If you have not, please consider subscribing to the HFS YouTube channel by hitting like and then subscribe.
Connect and give me a shout. Again, hit subscribe and share with family and friends.
Welcome and thanks to the new HFS YouTube subscribers. Appreciate your support.
Upcoming Training Opportunities -
- Virtual Training Seminar sponsored by Ret Lt Col. Dave Grossman. This is a great opportunity to get virtual training over three days, for free, or you can upgrade for a very minimal cost and watch at your leisure during 2023. Leadership, Mental Health, Marriage and Family, Resilience and more. Home - Live Unconquered Conference
- Kentucky Gun and Preparedness Expo - $10 per person, Leburn, KY, March 25 & 26, HFS Kentucky family come check out this event. The classes and speakers will be posted later in January. I will be on site teaching three classes at this event. Eastern Kentucky's Largest Sportsman Show – The Gun & Preparedness Sportsman's Expo (gunpreparednessexpos.com)
Guest and Newcomers
If you are a guest or newcomer to the HFS journey, please check out this link for additional
information offered through HFS. https://www.hopeforsurvival.com/post/guest-and-newcomers-information-page
Hope for Survival books and HFS Thumb Drive for Emergency Documents -: You can obtain information on the two HFS books at this link: Survival, Preparedness, Disaster Management for individuals or family (hopeforsurvival.com)
Hope for Survival - How Food, Water, Shelter, and Security Could Save Your Life (Book 1)
Hope for Survival - The Mindset (Book 2)
HFS Thumb Drive for Emergency Documents - We just restocked the HFS Thumb drive and have them available now. Follow this link and you will see the add at the top of the page. Blog | Survival (hopeforsurvival.com)
We must make this brief public announcement to protect the innocent.
Ding, Ding, Ding....Attention HFS readers..... Opinions shared in this newsletter are just that, opinions, and nothing more. Read at your own risk. The owner and author of this site is not responsible for hurt feelings or thin-skinned readers. I do my best to show restraint and respect to the best extent possible. I take as many precautions as possible and try to remain as nonpolitical as possible, however, there are times when I just can't help but point certain things out. Occasionally I use words only Patriots recognize and understand. It's not personal against any non-Patriot. It's just the truth. Sometimes we must pull up our spenders and suck it up. Just saying. Stay the course, read what you want, and avoid the rest. Avoid fear porn as much as possible and the day will be okay. When all else fails… Keep the faith and always have Hope.
Let’s move along and get to some thoughts...
Thoughts for the week - This week I'm not focusing on food, water, shelter, or security. I'm focusing on self, me, you, us. I want to talk about self-evaluation, how we got to where we are today and what are we doing today and tomorrow. In the thoughts below the book of life, I ask that you stick with me through the points I'm making and ask yourself questions as well. I will be juggling a lot of apples and oranges to get to my point below, but I do have a point.
I encounter many wonderful people doing wonderful things in preparedness. The biggest vulnerability or weakness I find is people not wanting to be leaders or take charge to train others. Highly qualified individuals with great skills beneficial to others in preparedness, yet they just want to learn from others but not step up to share what they know. They want to be on a team but want someone else to do the work to build the team and then invite them on the team. This is not a criticism but an observation.
Right now, is the time to be observing and evaluating those around you who may be on your team. One of the issues is a lack of confidence is holding people back. Get off the fence and try it. You may surprise yourself in how well you instruct others or lead a class. Evaluate yourself. Ask close friends to evaluate you.
Let us continue....
The book of life. How does yours read? - I continually work to self-evaluate, ask questions of myself, and work to do better. The best boss I have experienced was an old crusty Viet Nam Veteran who was sharp, hard, and instruction and directed like a razor to one's ego. His basic philosophy stated, "we don't lose, accepting loss is defeat, and we climb the mountain to any level at all costs to win. No matter how long your day is, always include time to do something positive for your community. Give of yourself when nothing remains to give." Hard and harsh? Maybe, but with a straight face and the grip of Paul Bunyon, he w