Surviving the "upcoming" crisis

Okay, the real problem with surviving a crisis often doesn't involve the amount of equipment you have amassed, the bulk supplies you've cached or even the remote location you've prepositioned everything. It is mostly a matter of how you and your family/neighbors/friends are mentally and psychologically prepared to endure and even thrive. There are a lot of good books out there. I highly recommend The Long Emergency (Kunstler), The End of the Oil Age (Savinar) and Peak Everything (Heinberg) if you want to get good and paranoid about an uncertain future. However, instead of curling up under a blanket in your basement you need to be an adult and face life. You aren't going to turn into a mountain man or woman over night. If you actually looked at the lives of the earlier pioneers they were brutal and short. We can, with our knowledge, do much better than they did. The biggest obstacles are our habits and comfort zones. If you can overcome your preferences and prejudices you will thrive. Otherwise you will freeze to death in the dark waiting for "somebody" to bail you out. For there to STILL be people living in FEMA RV parks from the aftermath of hurricane Katrina is beyond comprehension. These people still don't have a plan and the ability to change their ways...they deserve what they get from the government.

I'm rambling...Can you dig into a pile of leaves to sleep when it is cold out? Are you willing to try to eat the "weeds" from your lawn or the field next door to satisfy hunger? Drink freshly harvested goat's milk from the farm down the street? Cook dried beans until they are soft enought to eat? If you need that electric blanket, salad in a sterile bag from the grocery store, chemically processed cow's milk or a bean burrito from Taco Bell then you will be in a world of hurt sometime in the near future.

Take your change one step at a time...I'm sure there are lessons that can be adapted from places like Alcoholics Anonymous or Weight Watchers that would help you here...look for them and adapt.

Start to look at the problems you could face and tick them off one at a time. Short power outages? Buy a generator and learn how to maintain it and preserve it between emergencies...better yet, learn to live without power during those emergencies. You can do a lot with non-electrical and battery powered (buy a solar recharger for those batteries) gear.

Food shortages? Start to stock up on both staples and luxuries that have a long shelf life...one is for calories ant the other is for comfort. "If you eat all of your rice and beans you can have a chocolate bar!" is a good bribe for adults and kids alike.

Have sturdy shoes for every family member...that way you can walk away from problems.
Prepare a pack that has all of life's necessities in it for every family member...that way you can walk away in style. DON"T BECOME A REFUGEE! Leave before "they" make you go.

More to follow!