Plan for the best, prepare for the worst

Remember the old days back when families had minimal stuff and lived with only the necessities of a household, and the children spent their days playing, reading, or helping with chores? No TV, no chatting on the phone with friends, no going out shopping at malls or meeting friends at Starbucks.

Granted, none of us really want to go back to those times because we like our TV, our cell phones, shopping, and going out to be with friends. The point I want to make however is looking at the idea of being more of a minimalist – living mainly with the things we need and getting back to the more basics of a family lifestyle.

Lately I’ve been researching and reading information about disaster preparedness and what a person should have on hand to survive a disaster and how a person can live on certain fundamentals. I started to visualize what it would be like having to get back to basics.

I personally like the luxuries life affords me in this day, yet I feel I should be prepared in case a day ever happens when those luxuries and my lifestyle get interrupted by a crisis.

Although I’m not dwelling on disaster possibilities, the fact remains that anything is possible, especially with the situation of our American dollar, and we should just plan for the best and prepare for the worst.

I did have to face a crisis once. One night several months ago I was awakened by a knock on my door at 3am. It was a neighbor and the minute I opened the door, I knew why he was there: we had a big fire heading our way. I looked around my house trying to decide what to pack up for evacuation, not knowing if I would be coming back to a house still in tact.

In looking around, I saw all the things I would miss having, but wouldn’t need. I then started loading my SUV with items I needed to survive if I couldn’t return to a home. I gathered articles of clothing, my photo albums, some toiletrees, a blanket and pillow, my computer, and my fire-box of Val Docs (not certain it would withstand a fire!).

Within the hour, the police drove by with loud-speakers enforcing evacuation and I put my dog in the car and headed out of the canyon down the hill to a friend’s house in a neighboring city.

As I drove away, I wondered if I would have to start all over again? Would my lifestyle really change in the blink of an eye? Luckily it didn’t and I was able to return home 3 days later to a home that was still there.

I didn’t exactly have to rough it either while being away from home. I was fortunate enough to have friends to stay with. Other people were not so fortunate and had to stay together in shelters.

Ok, I may have strayed away from my point, so I’ll get back to it. If we were to truly examine all the things we have and decide its true value (what benefit it has to us) and whether or not we’d miss it if there was a disaster, then maybe a lot of us wouldn’t have so much stuff.

Cutting back to some household basics can remove a lot of clutter in our lives. Do we really need it? That’s the question. Are we prepared to survive a rough time? That’s the challenge. Would we be better off if our family lifestyle included more reading than watching TV? That’s a discretion that might lend foresight to a calmer, more orderly family unit.

All in all, I’m promoting the idea of being prepared, cutting back on things we don’t need, and bringing the family unit back to some fundamental lifestyle that includes more of the old days values and less of today’s mindless activities. We just might find new opportunities in new circumstances.

References for emergency planning, prepare and kits:

http://www.ready.gov

http://www.fema.gov/areyouready

http://www.prepare.org

http://www.equipped.org/disastertoc.htm

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/disaster-preparedness