Lisa Montgomery - Raw Survival: Living the Raw Lifestyle On and Off the Grid

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Raw Survival

Text Copyright 2013 Lisa Montgomery

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN: 978-1-57826-412-4

eBook ISBN: 978-1-57826-507-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

Cover and Interior Design by Carolyn Kasper / DCDESIGNS

v3.1

Raw Survival is dedicated to the memory of my beloved, book-end sister, Colonel Cheryl Montgomery Harris.

Special thank you to the folks at Charlotte Hall Veterans

Nursing Home, Charlotte Hall, Maryland.

Serving Those Who Served

The Living Legacy Foundation of Maryland, an organ donation organization, needs your help!

Please visit www.thellf.org.

I started writing this book several years ago, with the 2012 Mayan predictions and various other apocalyptic prophecies in the back of my mind. On January 1, 2013 the politicians in Washington, DC came to a resolution in regards to the fiscal cliff. Unfortunately, according to the Budget Office, every $1 in spending cuts will result in a corresponding tax increase of $41. That is a ratio of 1 to 41. They will be cutting spending by $15 billion, but will be raising taxes $620 billion. With this news from our politicians, we need to accept that every day may become a Raw Survival day.

Raw Survival will help you and your family to be prepared if any apocalyptic events happen, whether it be globally or personally. In late October 2012, the East Coast of the United States of America experienced Hurricane Sandy, a Frankenstorm (as news sites styled it) which consisted of three storms, a hurricane, tornado and noreaster coming together. The damage was extensive, and in many places quite severe. But because of preparations I had already put in place, I sailed through Sandy without a scratch, financial or otherwise. I didnt even need to implement 98 percent of my preparations. So the good news is that what Ive written in this book is field-tested and reliable.

And dont think that the only advantage of preparation and planning comes in the grips of a catastrophe. Everyone I know (myself included) make a fraction of what we used to make, not to mention all those who do not have jobs and have lost their homes. With the tax increases affecting us and the cost of everything rising, our personal incomes are now causing us to have our own personal crises. Raw Survival will teach you how to survivemaybe even thrivein a global recession/depression. I have learned how to stretch the dollar and how to buy smart.

Emotional survival is another element that we will be addressing. Whether it is because you are going through a global apocalyptic event like Hurricane Sandy, the terrible tragedy in Newton or a personal life crisis, there are preparations you can make and strategies you can employ to ease your burden. For me personally, Emotional Survival in a Raw World is the most impactful chapter of Raw Survival. If you have your head and your heart on straight, and are firmly grounded when the challenges of life face you, then you can get through them. I will share with you the elements that have helped me to face the challenges of life. These tools have worked and may inspire you to find what works for you.

One of the advantages of getting older (and, I pray, wiser) is that things that would have set my hair on fire as a sixteen year old are nothing to me as a 56 year old. Theres just no comparison. I pray that Raw Survival helps you to thrive in your everyday life, as well as the major challenges ahead. When stuff happens, I always choose to look at it as an opportunity to learn and grow as a person. My goal is to inspire you, to let you know that you arent going through life alone, and that you arent the only one who is going through major challenges. The difference is how you choose to go through it.

W e live in such a raw, emotionally charged world. From floods in the Philippines to our own Hurricane Sandy to the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, we are all living in a raw world, a rawness that is televised globally 24/7.

In the old days I would do a million things in a day and run full tilt from sunrise to sunset, and all it did was leave me hyper and agitated, my nerves jangling constantly. In addition to my two jobs and everything I do to stay healthy, I had four loved ones die in a 2 year period, during which I became responsible for handling their affairs. I had to learn how to survive emotionally in a very raw and stressful time, and still find a way to keep moving forward.

You learn to appreciate the fundamental human needs during times like these. For example: I have always been a person who needs a good eight hours of sleep. If I dont get my sleep I get grumpy and dont have it in me to handle the day. I need to be bright eyed and bushy tailed to face the work day and the rest of life. If I am going to an event where I know I wont be getting to bed until late in the evening I make sure to schedule it for a weekend, when I can sleep in.

And your support network need not only be made up of humans! There have been countless studies done on the healing benefits of having pets. Ive even heard that petting your dog can relieve stress and lower your blood pressure. We always had pets growing up; animals have been a core part of my life for as long as I can remember. And as an adult, Ive always had pets. I already have three dogs, two cats, one parrot, two parakeets, seven hens, and countless bees. Ive also become much more in tune with my pets. You may be asking what this has to do with ones emotional survival. The fact is that pets, especially cats and dogs, are extremely perceptive toward your emotional states. Theyre like tiny mirrors into your own emotions; in addition to the calming effect that caring for them can have, they also allow you to see yourself from the outside, and keep perspective. So look at your dogs as they will be a good indicator of how you are feeling. If they are wound up maybe it is a time to take a step back, breathe, go for a walk, and calm down. Take your pets for a walk; it not only exercises both of you, it allows for a stronger connection with each other, nature, and God.

We all go through moments in our lives when our hearts ache and we dont think we can take another step. But one of our greatest gifts is our ability to persevere and adapt. You may be going through a crisis, and the odds seem impossible. But believe in yourself. You can do it. Dont give up. You can make the impossible, possible. There have been times when Im in the shower crying out to God, with tears pouring down my face. Times when the raw emotions and circumstances of life have seemed so daunting and endless or the pain so intense that I thought myself unable to go on. But I did. And I do. And so can you.