Variety is the spice of life

Variety is the spice of life

       And the corollary: A Marine is not happy unless he or she is bitching

            So if times get hard, try insert some variety into what is probably an otherwise bland and often difficult life.

            Examples abound that do not interfere with the mission of just surviving

·       Modify the food served with either additions or deletions, or even try a new kind of simple meal

·       Modify the security schedules and routines some

·       Modify one's personal appearance, even if it is just taking an unscheduled bath or getting an extra hair treatment or beard trim

·       Provide a little time off to others if you can

·       Provide something extra, like firewood or a weather protector

·       Little homemade gifts go a long way in enhancing variety and appreciation

·       Come up with ways to celebrate, be it a birthday or a holiday or whatever

·       Help sponsor a community event or even a sport, or some combination

·       Surprise people by admitting mistakes while improving things. Hard times don't always have to be "that" hard in the long run

·       Any change in the probable repeating and often boring drudgery of a hard times lifestyle will be something to improve morale

·       Anybody can do it. It is not a "top down" idea, but better an all levels idea. A good leader would sponsor these kinds of ideas, in a savvy way of course.

·       Innovation and ingenuity are always appreciated. For example around 1814 two people near where I live hand drilled a well 84 feet deep and copper lined it so they could extract salt water to then boil off to make salt for food and health.

·       Scrounge or barter for something new and innovative. Even a quarter inch (6.35 mm) piece of broken plywood can really be appreciated compared to a dirt floor.

·       Make birthing as safe as you can

·       Console others in their time of grief and death

·       Come up with better ways to keep foxholes dryer. For example, add some more "crush and run gravel" to the floor. Or add extra weather protection and extra camouflage, or even add a seat.

·       Go to a different church or religious service

·       Share an abode

·       Provide a different way to travel

·       Provide another and new  way to entertain. One example is a new radio channel that got developed. Another example is reading a new book out loud.  Another example is a children's play performed before an audience.

I figure over time coming up with new "varieties" will become more difficult, but that is a "good kind" of problem to have.