I’ve mentioned it in the past, but it really is difficult to maintain one’s focus and intensity in preparing for the end of the world when you have electricity, hot water, a freezer full of food, and a job. And we know that graveyards are full of people whose secondary cause of death was complacency. We let our foot off the gas and we don’t notice it until we suddenly realize we’re miles from where we want to be and time is almost gone.
I often joke to people that I do my best, fastest, copious, and efficient work when I have gun pointed at my head. And, if you really think about, there’s always a metaphorical gun pointed at our head – our own mortality. Memento mori….we’re all gonna die. But it’s easy to forget that and we wind up dawdling and wasting time.
It’s just so easy to forget that there are wars going on…military wars, culture wars, economic wars, and personal wars. It’s easy to forget about the unpredictability of groceries when you’re fat and not hungry. It’s easy to forget about the fragility of power systems when the lights are on. It’s easy to forget about the vulnerabilities of supply chains when there’s gas in your truck. You get the idea.
I can only speak for myself, of course, but I’m betting that some of you also slack off a bit in the good times (or the not-bad times). What do you do to regain that focus and intensity? Watch ‘Threads’? Start making lists? Resolve to be more diligent? I know I can’t be the only one who sometimes slows down and starts to lose steam in terms of living a life of improved resilience and decreased threats.
What do I do? I think back about times when I was living pretty close to the edge… no money in the bank, no food in the fridge, no marketable skills, that sort of thing. Days where twenty bucks was all the money in the world. You only have to be hungry a time or two to really appreciate the fundamental things that make life bearable – shelter, food, water, heat, and a way to pay for them.
I bring this up because I was thinking that I have gotten a bit soft lately. I used to have a somewhat intense focus on making sure I had the mechanisms and supplies in place to get me through pretty much anything that might come along and kick me back to those lean days. It seems like the further away I get from those times, the less focus and intensity I have… which is wildly counterproductive because, holy Crom, have you watched the news lately?
So…if you’re like me and think that maybe you havent been running the preparedness wagon on all eight cylinders lately and you need a little more octane in the tank, I suggest you settle into a comfy chair, relax, and think back to the utter and absolute craptacular moments in your past, be pleased that theyre behind you, and then use their memory to fuel your resolve to get back into the mindset that gets things done. Make a list if you have to. Get an accountability partner. Promise yourself an awesome reward if you hit your goals. Whatever it takes, man.
It isnt a certainty, but I’d say the odds are good that someday you, me, and everyone else are gonna get caught up in something thats gonna make us glad we prepared as much as we did and sorry we didnt prepare as much as we should have.
Only you know what works for motivating you, but whatever it is I recommend you start doing it if you havent already. The world is an uncertain place and there’s not a lot of room for complacency.
Talking about “Threads” they now want to remake it as a TV series. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm24nedy37ro
What kills my preparedness is age. Old age. Now in low 60’s, I have some of the supplies but severely lack physical ability to accomplish the every days tasks I foresee needing.
So go work out and get in better shape ? I quit the gym about a year and a half ago (bad mistake, due to my pride being hurt which was stupid) but even working out back then, I noticed my performance was beginning to flag. What I could comfortably do a year previously was becoming a struggle. Especially when working in the heat of the day outside – strong sunlight kicks my ass quick ! Not the same whippersnapper I was before for certain.
My kids are grown so take a lot of responsibility off of me for providing. None of them ever had any interest in ‘camping’ or shooting, so likely means I will still have to be the person preparing for uncertain future. It wears on you.
By the way, just heard rumors that SCCY firearms may have closed doors forever. Foreclosure in Florida location. So if you have them or contemplating purchasing one, that is a factor now.
Same with me, except I am 76. My kids and grandkids have no interest in preparedness, and when I croak my preps will likely be sold or pitched out, I’m guessing. Ah well, we can only do what we can do, normality bias on their part will win out I suppose.
buddy of mine helped a family clean out grandpa’s semi-hoarder cabin home up in the mountains a while back after he passed away. He said there were buckets and buckets of beans, rice, flour, sugar, etc. I asked him what he did with it all, he said the family had him take it to the dump. Did you go through any of them? Nope. Did you ever think there were maybe some items like, oh I don’t know, silver, gold, handguns, ammo, jewelry, etc. hidden in those buckets? Nope. Pretty sure most burglars aren’t going take the time to open buckets in the back storage room marked beans and rice or boxes labeled ‘books’ or ‘photo albums’ and go through them for valuables, and maybe some smart old timers know this and hide stuff in plain sight. People are dumb.
That’s (age) an excuse. Not to be harsh – I am in the same boat. Age and trauma are NOT kind.
However, I got back into the gym this past January after a 20-year hiatus. I specifically started at the lightest weight possible for each exercise. Thanks to Randall’s advice at GruntProof, I now find myself stronger than I was (12/2024) though weaker than I was (40 years ago).
IIRC, the old proverb – the best time to plant a fruit tree was 10 years ago; the next best time is today.
Now, instead of paying my chiropractor, I pay the gym.
Egos have killed more people than everything else, combined.
And where you were doesn’t matter. What matters is that you start doing better, as you define ‘better’.
How was your fitness for the previous 4+ decades? I see a lot of people that never worked out or ate right hit their 50’s and 60’s and complain how “you wouldn’t understand how hard it is”. I believe you, it’s hard to un-do half a century of neglect but you should never have been starting from scratch.
I’m about to turn 46 and my lifelong fitness commitment had me set a new personal record in my squat, deadlift, and bench press this year. I wasn’t even going for that, my new training program just yielded some awesome results after I built my home gym late last year so I would have absolutely no excuses aside from severe illness not to workout hard 5 days a week.
I’m not trying to be the best I’ve ever been, I clearly can’t run unlimited 6:30 minute miles anymore but I’m darn sure going to be the best version I can be of myself right now. Anything less is disrespectful to my wife and would make me a hypocrite in giving guidance to my boys.
Keep going strong! But, remember some of us have been there, at 46 I was still going to the dojo 3 times a week, doing jujitsu 3 times a week, fighting in tournaments once a month. But now, 20 years later, I have had both hips replaced, 3 knee surgeries, and back surgery. What I could do at 46 and what I can do now, is a world away… Plan accordingly.
I’ve been in the prepper ‘life’ for 69 years – and yes, my interests and involvement have waxed and waned. But it doesn’t matter. Because even if I don’t have everything 100% up to speed, I’m still better off than 99.99% of the people out there.
I’m guilty and it’s the old cliche of the “urgent” often getting in the way of the “important”.
For example, last Saturday I had to clean out my clogged gutters (urgent) so I didn’t do something potentially more important like go through my apocalypse medical supplies that I know much of which is massively expired to reorder and refresh. That can wait…until it can’t.
True, but your gutters pretty much need daylight and at least half-way decent weather.
Screening your preps? Any time…
Marcus Aurelius said “comfort” was the worst addiction. Ol’ Remus used to mock those who would submit a piece to Rawles’ Survival Blog titled something like: “How I Survived A 9 Hour Power Outage”. I guess the important thing is that we recognize when we might be getting soft.
Out of economic necessity, I learned to do much of my own vehicle and home maintenance. I carry a “country boy can survive” chip on my shoulder. But if I’m truly honest with myself, I know that I’ve grown a bit “soft” as a 60 year old with more money. Thanks for the reminder.
Yeah, I used to have all the time in the world and no money. Now its the other way around. It makes one lose track of whats important.
Following. This is a natural cycle that occurs. Embrace it. I had to curtail prepping stuff for a couple few years due some economics and life position changes and a relocation move out of state. My time and funds had to be prioritized to other macro strategic objectives that were much more important to overall survival and stability than mouse clicking more supplies delivered or buying more guns. As long as you are not hookers and blow screwing off in Vegas, there may be periods of time outs due to circumstances or life changes. Aging out happens to us all, so adjust your game plan to compensate for that and focus on those areas you are best at. Like going from spec ops run and gun specialist, to becoming a quartermaster supply sergeant or middle management-instructor to others. Rawles had a parallel article posted, worth reviewing. Trim or dye those gray hairs out, reorientate yourself to the new you, or position in life, and stay frosty.
Perfection is the enemy of action. I suspect most of your readers, like yourself, will do just fine in most SHTF times. A lot of success is just knowing it could happen and doing something about it.
However, you can’t always “fix it”. My SHTF happened 21 years ago. My first heart attack. The third one was the real SHTF (two years after the first one). Can’t walk 150ft before angina starts. Doc said my heart was fine….for a six year old, not a 225lb man. The scaring and blocked arteries could not be fixed. 14 family members both side had early heart disease, so genetic. I have been a prepper for over 50 years. My mindset picked up by the Missus’ has seen us through hard times very well. We plan, eat our preps and watch for sales and deals to restock. Home canning and small garden feed us very well (eating 15 bean soup wife canned in 2019 right now). We are both getting close to the end of the line. Gave our 5gal buckets of rice and beans to little brother, whose wife bitched and he threw them out. But they have two boats,45 ft RV, Four bedroom house on acre of land with huge shop and new cars. They just bought a house for the youngest daughter. They often live hand to mouth.You can’t fix that mindset. That’s on him.