What exactly do you stake your life on? Better stated, what is it that you are willing to gamble your future on? A few dollars spent on a fast-food meal that might have purchased a flat of beans or some medical supplies? Perhaps it is a scoffed-at and discarded notion that our society might indeed be fragile and easily disrupted? Maybe it’s the insecurity that your friends and family will think you are a some sort of a nut?
Are you secure in your lifestyle and beliefs because you still get your paycheck at the end of the week and you have a weekend of grilling and TV to look forward to?
Life is good.
But what if the unthinkable happens…
There are a thousand and one doomsday scenarios floating around. Some are plausible, some are fantastic. But they all share the same underlying theme: Be prepared. Just stop and think about this with an open mind for just a few moments. I’m not asking you to change your entire life philosophy or scare you into hiding. Just stop your hectic life for ten minutes and give serious, honest thought to one question: What if?
Let’s not talk about full preparedness for the end of the world. Let’s talk about a few simple steps that could greatly increase your quality of life on a short-term basis.
What if a simple, yet very possible scenario plays out?
A storm descends on your area and you and your family are suddenly without electrical power for three days. Are you ready? Three days does not seem like a particularly long time, yet you have no light, no water, no way to cook or heat food, and in some cases, no heat or air conditioning. Three days have suddenly become a very stressful and frightening time.
It’s true that most people could survive a three day period without changing their current lifestyle. Cold food, minimal light, minimal water, and no heat. You eat canned soup straight from the can. All four of your candles are lit, but do not provide enough light or heat to be appreciated. You are reduced to drinking the water from your toilet’s flush tank (not the bowl!), and you only have one extra blanket in the whole house. It would be very uncomfortable, but survivable.
But perhaps you were brave and didn’t care what your friends have been thinking about you for the past year. You were living on the edge and decided to make simple preparations so that you and your family could not only survive such small incidents, you would comfortably thrive.
Deciding to pick up a few extra cans of food when they are on sale, or better yet, buying in bulk, has provided you with not only a meal, but a variety of choices. Passing up on buying a few DVDs to purchase a camp stove now seems remarkably prudent. You have a small source of heat, as well as a warm meal. (Even simple things such as a warm meal can be a great morale booster in times of stress). That small kerosene lantern you bought that has been collecting dust in the back of your closet is now a cheerful provider of light. You had the forethought to store a few gallons of drinking water, and those extra wool blankets that have been crowding your linen closet are now a welcome relief.
The point is this: simple, inexpensive preparations will not appreciably cramp your lifestyle, yet when needed, they reward you far more than the small sacrifices it might have taken to acquire them.
Start thinking in terms of the basic needs for survival. Water, food, heat, light. From there, you can expand from the basics to help yourself be ready for nearly any situation. First aid/medical, self-protection, barter, etc. Be honest with yourself. Is there a logical reason not to prepare?
Knowledge is power, and in today’s world of technology, knowledge is easily found. Do some research, either at your local library, or on the Internet. Discover what your options are before you categorically discard them as folly. Don’t let fear, apathy, or arrogance paralyze you into non-action.
Self-sufficiency provides a marvelous boost of confidence. There is great peace of mind that comes with the knowledge that you are ready to face adverse conditions, that you have taken steps to provide a secure environment for yourself and your family. At the end of the day, isn’t it far better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it? – "Clannad"