. . . and I feel fine

It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
-R.E.M.

It's a great song. Pretty much sums up how I'm feeling. Change is happing so fast now that it doesn't take decades for things to look totally different. The changes happen in a matter of months, days sometimes.

The world is always ending. Arrangements that once held value and made sense have their time and then time moves on. Hundreds of years ago, the pace of change was so slow that people could barely notice it in a single lifetime. Now the changes happen so fast it could blow your hat off.

Right now there's an awful lot of complicated stuff happening. An engineer will tell you that the more complicated a piece of machinery is, the more likely some critical part will fail. Our very civilization is like a very complicated machine. This particular machine's been running a bit too fast without enough lubrication and maintenance.

The world has complicated trade, military, religious, social, legal, and political arrangements. Globalism has delivered in some ways, providing cheap goods and services. The masters of the system: the capitalists, regulators, and political leaders have done very well. The average guy, not so much. There are winners and losers, but labor has made a quick race to the bottom. Even the Chinese workers are getting too pricey for today's markets.

Add in some real environmental issues and things get ugly. How many people know one of the main causes of the Syrian conflict is a prolonged drought? Crops fail. People get angry. There's blood in the streets.
The threat of war is higher than it's been in years. There are troop buildups that we haven't seen since the Cold War. The Chinese Navy is patrolling disputed waters. Don't forget N. Korea or even the Pakistan/India issues. Africa is a mess. The Middle East is always in turmoil.
Whoever becomes president is going to have their hands full. I've serious doubts about either candidate's ability to handle the problems. Hillery worries me because of her track record. Donald worries me because he doesn't have one -zero experience.

Yet with all this stuff going on, I feel fine. Financially I'm just getting by, but I am getting by. Certainly haven't missed any meals. I've family and friends who are darn good people. My basic needs are being met, along with most of my higher order needs. Things have been a lot worse for me. Heck, I even got a clean bill of heath from the doctor. No mean feat for an aging fat guy.
So I take precautions for tomorrow, but don't let it kill today's joy. Not an easy thing to do sometimes, but can be done. It helps that so many of my preps: my own well, country home, garden, alternative energy systems, improve my life today.
It helps that I've looked death in the face before. We got toe to toe, shook hands, then went our separate ways. Sure, he'll be back, but having been close to death before, I no longer fear it. Instead, I'm enjoying the days and hours granted to me now. They are all the more sweet for being a kinda bonus round.

I feel fine.

-Sixbears