Mental

SPONTANEITY WORKS FABULOUSLY FOR SOME THINGS, BUT IT CAN BE THE RUIN OF OTHERS Crisis is one of those areas where researching, gathering and organizing can make a tremendous difference in one’s success. But don’t fool yourself. Just storing extra supples does not necessarily qualify you to face disasters. Above all remember: your mind is one of your most important survival resources. No matter what situation you’re presented with, you will have options. The trick is to have your mind prepared to receive the abundance. Supplies will definately help you survive crisis. Books that offer survival techniques will help too. But nothing, including someone else’s account of what they did in a similar situation, teaches like personal experience. The difference between knowledge and wisdom is experience.

• Know-how Now! Crisis survival is a do-it-yourself event. You need to devise practice scenarios to test your reactions, stocks, new skills and back-up plans. Crisis play-acting is not exactly like really being in the midst of chaos, but its a lot more real than thinking about what could happen. At the same time that you’re gathering supplies, practice living without electricity, free-flowing tap water; telephone and email connections and anything else you really like to take for granted. You might get a look at the most vulnerable parts of yourself, you might even discover ugliness you didn’t want to know is there. You’ll also get a glimpse of the very best of you. The exercises are worthwhile. Use them to make your survival plans more efficient and effective.

• Procrastination Trap Alert! One might think that survival preparedness is too much trouble! All these extra things to do on top of an already overloaded schedule is way too overwhelming. And some people, depending on their current lifestyle, have more of a long road to readiness than others. No question. Being ready to survive disaster takes work. It takes a concerted effort, consistently applied, to make lasting changes to your lifestyle. You can choose to ignore the facts, retreat into your comfort zone and convince yourself that the chances of something happening to your family is unlikely. What if you’re wrong?