Daring To Dream In Uncertain Times

Warning: Uncertain TimesHello there, fellow preppers! I’m back after an unexpected hiatus that was forced on me by my “day job.”

Part of the reason for my absence is that I’ve been working toward my survival goal of getting out of debt and acquiring some land by overhauling my freelance business–niching down my services, raising my prices, overhauling my web site, researching marketing strategies, that sort of thing.

Any time I start giving serious attention to the structure and operation of my business like that, I eventually find myself starting to dream big, and this time it’s no different. Suddenly I’m having visions not just of improved income, but of someday growing my little web design “studio” beyond just me and my laptop to something that includes partners and employees and posh office space.

And then I remember that our nation and its economy are on the verge of a meltdown, and I reel it back in.

This isn’t the only area where this happens. My husband and I have been planning to start a family soon. Actually, the truth is that we’ve been struggling to get one started for a few years now, and we were planning to have another go at it this year. Financial hardship has forced us to put that goal on hold for the moment, but these uncertain times we’re living in has us asking ourselves painful questions about whether we should consider putting it on hold indefinitely.

I also have a writing career. Shortly before we pulled our heads out of the sand and got serious about prepping, I had set goal to be making a full-time living from my writing within the next five years. But I’ve since put that goal on the back burner, too, giving priority to more practical goals like making sure we’ll still be able to feed and shelter and defend ourselves five years from now.

It’s a little depressing, really. No, I take that back: it’s a LOT depressing, feeling stuck in an uncertain situation where you feel like you have to let go of all of your First World dreams and aspirations. But there are other, more sustainable and survival-friendly dreams and aspirations, like my new dream of building a homestead and running a small fiber farm, of being able to work with my hands and not be stuck behind a computer all day.

Still, it hurts to let go of my lifelong dreams, and I can’t help wondering whether I really should. It’s hard to plan for the future in uncertain times. We just don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t think I should stop planning for success in my business or my career, or kibosh our family planning entirely; but how much energy and effort should I put into those goals on a daily basis?

Am I alone in this? I suspect I’m not. So I’m asking my prepper community, how do you deal with this? How do you strike the balance between planning for success and preparing for disaster?

Please tell me. I really want to know.