Life Skills Are Being Lost—Along With the Key Benefits They Offer

Illustration by The Epoch Times, Shutterstock

A few generations ago, most people knew how to mend a shirt, unclog a drain, and cook from scratch. Today, these skills are disappearing.

With our modern conveniences and shifting priorities, it may be hard to see why losing basic skills matters.

With the prevalence of cheap clothing, knowing how to mend a torn shirt or replace a lost button hardly seems necessary. A simple phone call to a plumber or handyman will resolve any clogged drain. And why cook when fast food and meal kits can be delivered to your front door?

However, these vanishing life skills are far more crucial than we realize.

Knowing how to perform basic repairs in your home, grow food in a backyard garden, administer first aid, and start a fire without matches makes us more self-reliant and resilient.

Practical life skills give us the confidence to think creatively and solve problems when resources are limited, or we find ourselves in a difficult or unexpected situation. Building a skillset helps to reduce anxiety about the future, makes us more competent, and gives us a sense of control regardless of what the future brings.

Taking care of our homes and managing basic upkeep gives us pride in our space, encourages responsibility, and gives us a sense of accomplishment. Fixing broken items, cooking meals from scratch, cleaning, and organizing also lead to better physical and mental health and can even become acts of self-care.

Outdoor skills like hunting, fishing, foraging for food, sourcing fresh water, and building a fire get us outdoors, allow us to slow down, and connect us with the planet that nurtures and supports us. Time outdoors relieves stress, encourages us to appreciate and respect nature’s gifts, and teaches us patience—something many of us struggle with in our fast-paced world.

When we possess these life skills, we don’t have to outsource our basic needs and can take pride and comfort in caring for them ourselves. These skills also give us a buffer amid adversity and make us better able to handle life’s inevitable setbacks.

In the worst of times, like during the Great Depression, these skills were invaluable and ensured people survived.

Below are some life skills worth investing in:

• Navigating without GPS (using a map, landmarks, etc.)
• Knowledge of medicinal foods and plants
• Gardening
• Preserving foods
• First aid (CPR, stopping bleeding, dressing a wound, stitching, etc.)
• Sourcing fresh water and food in an emergency
• Hunting/fishing
• Being aware of your surroundings
• Making basic repairs

Beyond their utility in everyday life, life skills become critical in an emergency or natural disaster. Knowing how to start a fire, hunt, fish, source fresh water, and find shelter can save your life—and the lives of those you love.

Disasters often conjure images of floods, forest fires, or earthquakes, but they can also happen close to home—like the loss of a job, illness, an accident, or unexpected death.

Besides their practicality, learning these skills benefits our minds and spirits.

In an article on the benefits of avocations or hobbies, senior health editor Matthew Little writes, “There is something imprinted inside us that demands our continued growth.”

We thrive when we learn something new and challenge ourselves. It exercises our brains and feeds our souls.

Research suggests that basic skills have physical benefits, too.

For example, Epoch Times writer Louise Chambers notes that knitting—in addition to being an excellent and practical skill—can also lower blood pressure, improve our memories, manage pain, and reduce the risk of dementia.

Learning these skills used to be a normal and necessary part of life. While technology may have made many seem obsolete, they still offer much more than knowledge and know-how. They forge resilience and nurture self-reliance while enriching our hearts and minds.