Preparedness, Part 3

Being prepared is about much more than just amassing supplies. Beans, bullets, and band-aids will certainly help, but there’s a mindset that accompanies preparedness.

You have to be willing to do whatever it takes to protect yourself and your family. If that means not buying a new DVD this week so that you can buy some extra cans of ravioli, then so be it. Understand that the only difference between you and everyone else is that you are part of the equation and that you can make it happen. You have to have the faith that if you have to take a life to defend yourself, you can do it and that you can do it with a clear conscious. Whatever. It. Takes. No one is going to stand in my way when it comes to providing for my wife and children. Preparedness is a state of mind and if you really embrace it, you will truly begin to understand what is important in your life and what is fluff. You’ll also be able to tell who and what things are dragging you down.

Eliminate things in your life that are harmful; whether they are friends, addictions, or debt. These things can really affect you and bring you down and there’s no room for that when you’re trying to make sure that you are ready.

Friends can give you a hard time and call you a nutty survivalist. Move on. If they don’t understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, you don’t need to waste your time.

Addictions take away valuable resources and add too much unneeded stress on the household. Cut them out. Quit cold turkey or get some help, but no matter what you do, stop the self destructive behavior.

In the words of Jack Spirko, debt is cancer. I fully believe this. Pay off your credit cards early and tear them up. You don’t need them. Now, a house, most people will have to go into debt for. Cars too. That’s acceptable. A plasma television? Hell no. Being able to go to the local Applebee’s four nights a week? Stupid. Live within your means. You make a salary, so start budgeting to live by that salary. If it’s not enough to make ends meet, you need to find a way to increase you income either by getting a raise, a new job, or just delivering pizzas on the weekends.

When you truly accept in your heart that you need to make a change for the wellbeing of your family, it’s like a light switch. It’s amazing the things that you can and will change without even realizing it. I prepare so that my boys always have a chance to make. I prepare so that my wife won’t suffer. I prepare because I firmly believe that our government can and will fail us when we truly need them. I prepare because I have faith the Survival of the Fittest is real and that Darwin was right.