Dozens of Voices, Only One Counts.

Today I’m going to revisit a topic I covered in the posts Head Games, Peace of Mind and Attitude in the Storm. In these posts, I focus the conversation on the state of mind, the mental focus necessary to become ready, resourceful and resilient. It’s not a hopeless, foolish endeavor, but what and how you think about it is what matters most. For those on the outside looking in, prepping is a strange pastime. To new initiates, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. The checklists are an excellent way to not only get organized, but they’re also designed to show that becoming prepared is an incremental process.

Going out tomorrow and buying 1000 rolls of toilet paper is not only expensive, unless you have an empty storage shed on your property, you’ll be hard-pressed to store it all. Before I go any further, let me make something crystal clear. In no way am I making fun of or dismissing the challenges experienced by those with mental health issues. Mental health is impacted by a host of things that I have neither the time nor the expertise to dive into. Suffice it to say, I strongly encourage everyone struggling with mental health issues to seek help from a qualified healthcare provider. Now, let’s get to work.

The bad news about prepping is that some feel as though they can prepare for every eventuality. This is simply not true. If you hear voices encouraging this belief and read statements to this effect in online forums, don’t listen. There’s no definitive guide on how to survive a nuclear war and preparing for a winter storm looks different if you live in northern Maine or southwest New Mexico. Being clear on what you’re preparing for is critical, otherwise your plans won’t address the specific hazards you’re likely to face and your efforts are largely wasted.

You must believe that what you’re doing not only matters, but that it will work. You’re preparing for the disasters likely in your area, which makes the process of becoming prepared more manageable. Trust you gut. Your instincts, while not foolproof, generally lead you in the right direction. The people around you will giggle when they hear your plans to weather the upcoming storms and face difficult times with calm and resilience. Let them. They aren’t responsible for the safety and security of your family. You are. These are the people who will be knocking on your door, desperate, frightened and begging for help. Which voice you listen to, theirs or your own urging equal parts compassion and caution, is solely up to you.

Resist any attempt by others to tell you that you have enough to share or that you must help them. Neither is necessarily true, and your actions should only be based upon your careful assessment of the situation, theirs and yours. Looping conversations and replaying interactions, while common, is truly unhelpful and potentially dangerous in times of disaster. These mental soundtracks are costly and unhelpful in normal times. In times of disaster, they can be fatal.

Whatever you decide to do, and regardless of how you feel about how this will impact others, you must act with conviction and clarity. There are no do-overs and dithering is a luxury you don’t have. The people who survive floods, tornados and hurricanes not only remain calm, but they also make plans and act with decisiveness when it’s game time. They don’t act on impulse or false information. They make decisions from a position of clarity after weighing options and further evaluating their situation. This is a skill that can be cultivated and highly developed. Start by making quick decisions on non-critical issues. Try this, at the company holiday party, do you have the canape or the petit four? Just pick one. You can always come back later for the other. It's that simple.

The portable solar generator you had you've eye on is on sale but still out of reach. Are there other purchase options such as buy now, pay later? Is there another model that has nearly all of the functionality you're looking for, but costs less? The fact of the matter is that you'll need more than one solar generator. Do what you can now and keep things moving. The timing will rarely be perfect and fortunately, that's not necessary. Act intentionally and methodically, that's how you take a step closer to being ready, resilient and resourceful.