As preppers and survivalists, we like to think we have an idea of what will happen after an SHTF happens. We all have ideas of what can be and how horrible it will be. However, we cannot really know what will happen after an SHTF event occurs.

Unless you have lived and dealt with the aftermath of a terrible natural disaster, you cannot really understand the magnitude of the damage and rebuilding that needs to take place. Unless you have lived through an extended power outage, you cannot understand just what you will need exactly to survive the situation. Unless you have survived political unrest, military actions, and war, you will not understand what you need to do to survive.

For most of us, we like to fantasize about what will take place and what we will need to do to survive and rebuild again. However, we don’t understand the scale of the reconstruction that will need to take place. We don’t understand the deconstruction that will happen and how rebuilding may be impossible. We don’t understand that life will never be the same again – physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually.

We like to think that we know and understand what we will be facing when events have occurred like those events previously mentioned. We sadly underestimate the sheer amount of work it will take to rebuild. We don’t really comprehend the amount of determination, skills, and just plain survival instincts we need to cope with the situations.

We like to think as preppers that our stuff will save us and help us to survive when something happens. Our things may indeed see us through the main disaster, but we are not ready for what is coming on the other side of the disaster.

Are you ready to suddenly leave the home you have had for the last 5, 10, 30 or longer years? You may never see that home again.

Are you ready to leave with just the shirt on your back and what you could toss in a bag and still survive? Your skills would be more important than your stuff at this point. Do you have the skills? Could you carry the bag? Could you survive?

Are you ready to live without power for days or weeks at a time? You may not have power at all or could only have it a few hours a day. Are you physically fit enough for this? Living without power requires a whole new mindset and a physical strength that most people lack. Are you ready to live without computers, running water, phones, and more that need the power to run? The reality of that situation is daunting to most people.

Are you ready to run for cover, hide in the basement, and learn extreme situational awareness in a hurry? Military conflicts and war are horrible. The damage and destruction that some people are lucky enough to live through cannot be imagined. The fear and anxiety could kill a person. The way of life that most citizens have in these times cannot be understood.

Are you ready to start completely over again? People do every day, but we all underestimate the tremendous amount of work and skills needed to do so.

We don’t really know what will happen after an SHTF event. We just don’t. Some people have lived through them and have lived to tell their stories. We need to pay attention because the one thing we should learn is that we should be prepared for the worst-case scenario. We should anticipate the unexpected and understand that we cannot be prepared for it all.

We need to also understand that our skills are much, much more important than our stuff to live. Sure, the stockpiles of food and water are going to always be important, but being able to forage and grow food is more important. Skills will triumph stuff in most situations and we need to practice them more to have confidence in ourselves to perform them under pressure.

Another thing we need to do is check our arrogance at the door when it comes to prepping and surviving. We should always be learning, always be ready to help, and never be looking down on another person. We as preppers have a tendency to say that we would have done this differently and had better results. Unless you have been through that situation or disaster, keep the judgment to a minimum and be a helper, not a hater. You don’t know how you would have handled that situation in their shoes and experienced the troubles they had. You just don’t.

A fair amount of people like to say that if a terrible disaster or event occurs, they don’t want to live through it anyway. They would rather die. While the sentiment is understandable, you don’t get that choice. Unless you are planning to die, you need to plan on how you are going to survive. We generally don’t get to plan our deaths. You would rather be prepared to survive than to be unpleasantly surprised that you did get to survive and now have to cope.

While we don’t really know what will happen after an SHTF event, we do know what we can do now to better our odds of survival for afterward. We do know that without skills, supplies will be useless so it is better to have our skills learned. We do know that we may have to leave where we are or find a place to hide out for a while and we need to plan for that. We do know that life may be very uncomfortable and we need to be prepared for that – mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Thanks for reading,
Erica

Related posts:
Five Types of Items You Should Not Have In Your Preps
Should I Stay or Should I Go? A Prepper’s Guide to Evacuating or Staying

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