Why We Prep: A Story from the ER

Sometimes Life Teaches You to Prep. Whether You Want It or Not.

We recently ended up back in the ER with my oldest. She's been admitted 6 times in the last 7 months for a new problem that came out of nowhere. Her life has been changed because of a new diagnosis.

As I sat there with her for yet another session of IVs and medications, it made me think about what prepping really is.

Were we prepared for this?

That's a good question. She had been working ahead on her studies and was dual-enrolled—ahead of where she needed to be. Now we've lost almost two semesters. But because she worked ahead, she's actually okay. We're still dealing with medical problems, but she's okay. She was prepared for adversity. She was prepared for life just not going as planned.

Prepping Isn't Just About the End of the World

I bring this up because prepping isn't just about the end of the world. Prepping is about doing your best to get ahead and think ahead on so many different subjects long before a problem comes your way. It means you can adapt when fate throws things at you.

Prepping is about thinking ahead and adaptability.

No Plan Survives First Contact

"No plan survives first contact with the enemy." Your plans and preps will have to adapt. You need redundancies built in.

What if your plan for water is to use a Berkey filter, and you go to use it the first time and realize one of the pieces is broken? That's not going to work. You're going to have to adapt.

This is also where the saying "two is one and one is none" comes in. You have to have backups, redundancies, and adaptability.

Your Most Important Prep

Your most important prep is your way of thinking. It needs to be critical and adaptable. You can't buy that on Amazon.

It's a way of training yourself to think—paying attention to what scenarios could arise. That's why we play the scenario games in our Facebook groups—activities designed to make you consider future options. It's also why the course will have many scenarios for you to think through, because frankly, that's what matters: thinking ahead and adapting.