Be prepared

Jana Mathia, Whitman County Gazette | Sep 24, 20200

If you don’t have a plan in case of emergencies, now is the time to do so. Like, right now.

Why wait? Because it can’t happen to you? Because fire will never reach your doorstep? Because no one in your family will ever have a heart attack? Because freak accidents don’t happen to you like power tool batteries blowing up in the back of your car, starting a fire?

Well, those things do happen.

When people think of preparedness kits, they get too focused on the big things—the earthquakes, flood, fires, plague. It’s easy to shrug off those things because, while they do happen, they are rare.

But being prepared for the large scale events means you are prepared for the smaller things that come along to interrupt life. Having enough water stored to last your family for a day or two seems unnecessary if you think you’ll only use it for a massive disaster that may never come. However, when your town has to cut off water to homes due to contamination or a broken line, that water comes in handy. Having a communication plan, advanced directive or knowing where Mom has the insurance papers stored is important in theory until she or Dad are in a car accident or have a heart attack and now the family is scrambling when they should be coming together.

Bad days happen; that is life. Being prepared can mitigate the level of suckiness on those bad days.

Dave Ramsey tells a story of a woman who came to an event upset and flustered. After all she had done to save money and get out of debt, her vehicle had broken on the way to the event and she was stressed about fixing the vehicle and the expense. When he pointed out she had an emergency fund that would fix the truck, she calmed. It was no longer a major stressor, just an inconvenience while the vehicle was repaired. That’s the power of being prepared.

Being prepared is much more than a backpack with extra clothes and food rations in it. And, honestly, you may have to alter it depending on your situation. Not everyone can fit two weeks worth of extra food in their home. But they can put a couple water bottles, granola bars, emergency blanket and flashlight in a gallon ziplock bag in the car. Because sometimes cars breakdown where there’s no cell service, and it’s dark and cold or really hot. Or you may have a five gallon bucket in the back of the garage or closet with package of soup mix, a small pot, candle and lighter. It will be a bother, taking up space, until the day you are snowed in and the power goes out. At least you can melt snow and make lukewarm soup. And, should that day come, knowing you have lunch and dinner covered for a couple days you may find you are more at peace it deal with other problems you now face.

Start today with something, anything, to prepare yourself for the bad days ahead. There are many facets to being “prepared,” so pick one and get to work. Prepare yourself physically and mentally and you’ll be able to deal with the emotional turmoil better.