A fair amount of preparedness sites focus on the how-tos and the reasons you should prepare and rightfully so. They actually help you to know what to do and how to do it. In fact, there are a lot of posts on this site doing the same thing. We just want the world to be prepared and to get the message out to everyone.

One of the facets of prepping I am keen on is the psychological and, to an extent, philosophical reasons people need to prepare. Most people need something to happen or just about to happen in order to be convinced to prepare. However, some people just need to be convinced to prepare. Some people know they should and don’t how to start or why they should start prepping.

The “why” of prepping really gets me. Sometimes I am baffled about why people do not prepare. It is such an easy thing to do and get started doing. Prepping isn’t hard. Why don’t people prepare?

Then I remember. I remember what drove me to preparedness. I remember stumbling into prepping and food storage blogs written by Gaye Levy and Linda Loosli and thinking I had hit on something that could really help me. 

When I first started to prepare, I did it out of worry and anxiety. I was afraid of a lot of things. I had already been at a point twice where I didn’t have enough food in the house to feed my kids (by the grace of others, they were fed). I was a single mom of four kids under 12 after I got divorced. I lived on an acreage by myself. I was anxious about the power going out for extended periods of time and random strangers coming to the door. I would worry about a lot of things that were actually out of my control.

The anxiety, fear, and worry wore me out and kept me awake at night. I never showed that side of me to a lot of people. Hardly no one knew because I knew I needed to be strong for my kids. I am also incredibly stubborn and I would be in dire straits before I would let anyone know I needed help.

When I first learned about stockpiling and food storage, I quickly understood this was a way to calm my fears about having enough food in the house and feeding my ever-growing kids. I took to it like my life depended on it. It calmed me in a way that was unexplainable at the time. I finally had some peace of mind knowing that I would not have to worry about feeding my kids if we couldn’t afford groceries for a week or longer.

Oh, I got ridiculed for doing it. People would joke about getting groceries at my house when they saw the food storage (not many people did). A few people were more than confused by my stockpiling. I would cover it up a little bit by saying I like to shop in bulk due to my growing kids. I also started getting teased about my food storage because I went farther than that. Food storage was my gateway drug for the rest of my prepping.

I just felt better being prepared! I didn’t need to be worried and anxious because I was prepared.

Fast forward ten years (and longer), I still feel better being prepared. Being self-sufficient gives me a sense of pride and calm. I have accomplished more things than I thought possible. I started gardening successfully after many trials and errors. I started raising laying hens for eggs. I started this blog!

Do I still have times of worry and anxiety? Yes, but I also have kids who are young adults and teenagers (that is a whole different kind of worry!). Our current social and economic atmosphere doesn’t make me feel better. I worry about paying the bills and keeping up in life. However, there is a lot of things I know I don’t need to worry about. I have taken care of them by constantly preparing for now and the future.

My life has changed so much in the last ten years. However, prepping has been a constant in my life. I find that it spills into other areas of my life too. I rarely leave home without everything I need just in case I am stranded or an emergency happens. I usually know what is going to happen most days (but I am still impulsive and leave a lot of room for adventure!). I shop with an eye towards stocking up and adding to my preps.

Prepping has vastly improved my life and, in a way, my mental health. I find now if I worry about something or become anxious over a situation, I have the power to take action and solve the problem in a way that is constructive. I know I can survive a lot of what is thrown my direction. There will always be circumstances beyond our control. However, we can control how we respond to them and be prepared for everything else.

Thanks for reading,
Erica

Related posts:
Is Procrastination A Prepper’s Biggest Enemy? Here Is What You Can Do About It!
Can You Really Live Without Money? 

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