How Prepared Do You Need to Be?

by JC Refuge

“How prepared do I need to be?” That's the question folks who are new to the crisis preparedness avocation ask over and over again.

Typically, they are looking for some kind of mathematical formula ... presumably incorporating some combination of risk factors, household size, skill sets, geography, and tea-leaf analysis.

I have to suggest that the perspective one should take is a bit more philosophical and personal.

Easy Does It

Those I know out there who are very rational and comfortable in their preparedness-related activities have almost unanimously come to one conclusion. That is, prepare until you feel good. The proverbial "zen" of readiness is of course attaining that narrow comfort zone where all suddenly becomes well with the world, at least in your own frame of reference.

Perhaps that's a bit obvious, but really, so many well-meaning preppers get swept way out there, becoming focused on how their worlds might devolve, implode, or disintegrate. In fact, some get so wrapped up in the gloom and doom, that interestingly, they end up subconsciously (or even overtly) hoping for realization of a catastrophe and losing a firm grip on their day-to-day obligations and blessings.

There are no two ways around it ... mathematically, the odds are long against any one of us being flattened by the fickle fist of fate. Potential is always there, but I certainly would never bet the mortgage on a lottery drawing.

Stay real. Stay cool. Being ready is more about daily peace of mind than about obsessing over gaps in your contingency planning.

No one is ever going to be fully positioned for all potential dangers. Just prepare till it feels about right, staying within your budget. Growing peace of mind is the guaranteed payoff we can all reap if we just keep things in perspective.

You decide what level of preparedness feels right, but in my book, feeling right is defined as being in balance.