self-re·li·ance [self-ri-lahy-uhns, self-]

noun

Reliance on one's own capabilities, judgment, or resources; independence.

The more you are influenced by society - the more you compromise your values and remain a foolish character in this world.  

Emerson said that and it has always rung true with me. 

In today’s world of overwhelming information it is easy to be intellectually lazy; to let the talking heads decide what you should believe or what you should know.  Life is short and the world will have you think that you have little time or capability to examine life, to challenge what you hear, to decide what you believe, and what determine what you can do.

Yes, the alternative is more difficult; having the courage, confidence, and energy to believe your own thought, challenge what others serve up, and trust in yourself.  I believe you must write your own truth, each day of your life.

“There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better,  for worse, as his own portion”  - Ralph Waldo Emerson

So scoot closer to the fire and we will examine this further.  I will talk predominantly talk about physical skills and knowledge that leads towards self-reliance in nature but I will occasionally discuss other aspects of self-reliance that are part of the whole package of independence.