Down the Rabbit Hole
I used to lie awake at night worrying about worst-case scenarios. I imagined waking up to a blinding nuclear flash, and the subsequent shockwave. What would I do? How would I keep my family safe? I came up blank.
These days, I still think about the growing list of things that could go wrong. And yet, I don’t feel the anxiety I used to. I’ve spent years getting my family prepared for worst-case scenarios, and also accepting that some crises are too big for me to control. Somewhere along the way, I learned how to let go of fear and embrace the uncertainty of life.
How To Be Ready
For many people, contemplating worst-case scenarios is simply too much of a mental burden. I get it. Everyday life can be hard enough without worrying about hypothetical scenarios. Instead, the majority of people pursue an “ignorance is bliss” mentality when it comes to crisis readiness. While I understand this, I find it similar to avoiding the doctor because you might get bad news.
In my own life, I’ve attempted to think through most worst-case crisis scenarios that could happen. Sure, there are countless variations of ways things could go wrong, but generally I think that things will play out a handful of ways. In most cases, our basic resources such as power, food, and drinking water will become scarce. This could be due to both natural and man-made disasters.
If you feel that the systems we rely on are fragile, it’s best to start with the basics. Be ready to survive without power, grocery stores, and clean drinking water for at least two weeks. This is a very achievable goal and covers the most likely scenarios.
Make a plan to evacuate your home in ten minutes or less if a disaster makes your area unsafe or unlivable. Lastly, have a plan to secure your home if you have to shelter-in-place during hard times. If resources become scarce, desperate people will become dangerous.
If you can do these three things, you’ll be ready for the vast majority of man-made and natural disasters that could affect your family in the future. I followed these steps for my own family, and I felt better. But to be honest, I still felt anxiety.
A Storm’s Coming
I couldn’t shake the sense that something bad was coming down the road. Something I wasn’t ready for. Not only did I feel anxious for my own family – I felt concerned for other family members and friends who I knew were far less ready than me.
You don’t need a PhD to take a sober look at the world and see that things aren’t heading in a good direction. It’s easy to analyze all of ways that things could go wrong. However, this mindset was counterproductive to the kind of life I wanted to live. I was well on my way to becoming Michael Shannon’s character in Take Shelter.
How could I balance my genuine concerns about the future with my desire to live a joyful life? I wanted to help other people get their families ready, but I didn’t want to be a doomsayer.
The first step was realizing that there were many contingencies I could prepare for, and some I couldn’t. Scenarios like nuclear war or total societal collapse were simply too great for me to truly address, at least on my budget. Those end-of-the world scenarios were also the most unlikely.
Shifting Your Focus
Since I had prepared as much as I reasonably could, I made an effort to shift my focus to other goals, such as fitness. I couldn’t prevent WWIII, but I could get stronger, faster, and more skilled. Those abilities are helpful in daily life, and would also come in handy in a crisis.
There are many other skills that you can develop – such as gardening, welding, and HAM radio to name a few. These hobbies can be enjoyable, while also making you a more resilient individual. In a crisis, would you be an asset to others around you, or a liability? The more skilled you are, the more of an asset you will be.
Looking back, there wasn’t a major shift or a breakthrough moment in my life. I didn’t stop thinking about crisis readiness or believing that it was critically important. I didn’t stop feeling concerned about loved ones who were underprepared. But somewhere in the journey, I allowed myself to let go of problems that were too large for me to fix – which is my own take on the Serenity Prayer, I suppose: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot prepare for.”
As Failstate instructor, Tray Ardese, likes to say, “Fear is a liar.” The best way to drive out fear is to be prepared. Once you’ve prepared as best you can, don’t let hypothetical worst-case scenarios continue to fill your mind with fear. Fear robs us of joy, and life is short.
