Excuse #5 - There Is A Chance I Will Never Need to Prepare At All

I love being optimistic. (I'm just not very good at it.) It is nice to look ahead and see only good things coming your way...unless of course, you are wrong.  I know that most of us hope we will never be in situations such as fire, natural disaster or medical emergency, and if we never have those problems, there is nothing to prepare for...right? 

Today's blog is an ongoing discussion into reasons we hate to get prepared.  The original blog can be found here and you can find links to each of the reasons below. 

1. Preparing is expensive.
2. Preparation takes time.
3. Being prepared takes emotional energy.
4. Getting prepared means I have to focus on negative situations.
5. There is the chance I will never need to prepare at all.

I really do think most of us cannot fathom having some of these emergencies happen to us.  Emergencies are for "other" people...who ever they are. It is hard to imagine needing to evacuate.  It is hard to wrap your head around losing a loved one. It is strange to think of disasters of any kind landing on our doorstep, unless of course it happens to you.

Right now, all across the United States we have tens of thousands of people who are dealing with unthinkable situations.  They are dealing with flooding, wildfires, loss of infrastructure, and loss of power.  Hurricanes, tropical storms, wildfires, drought, and excessive heat are all happening at the same time.  My guess is we have a lot of people who never thought they would have these issues. 

Just for a moment, let's imagine you chose to do no preparation.  Now let's assume you were in the north eastern United States when the hurricane hit.  I want you to answer a few questions.

1. Did you have enough food to last the 5-7 days you were without power and stores were not open?
2. Did you have enough batteries for flashlights?
3. Did you have enough medication to wait until the pharmacy's computers were back up?
4. Did your home flood?  If so, were you able to leave safely and did you have a place to go?
5. Did you have flood insurance? Could you contact your agent?
6. Did anyone get hurt? Were you able to get them medical treatment?
7. Were you able to notify your family/contact list that you were safe?

I'm sure I could ask many more questions, but the point is a little preparation could have made each of those questions easy to answer.   While there is a chance you will never have to deal with these issues, is it really worth waiting for the flood to find out you were wrong?

I know many of us are overwhelmed by all of this, and if taken as one big preparation task, yes it can be very overwhelming.  Taking it one step at a time can make it all a little easier to handle.  You don't have to think about the emotions of a flood, only the things you need to do to make it easier when/if it happens.  Doing a single thing at a time will get you prepared, and sometimes that preparation is the difference between riding out the storm and being in trouble.

So get up and go get prepared...you can do it!