The Market is NOT the Message
Do you think that the bump upward in the stock market means everyone should forget about preparing for an emergency? Certainly I don’t. Apparently many people do. It is kind of amazing. We can see the relative number of people who are concerned about emergency supplies by looking at the stats for this website.
The results have left me with my eyes wide and mouth open… do people really think that emergency situations depend on the stock market? Yes, they do, if our stats are even vaguely accurate. Although there have been a number of very kind people who have gone out of their way to thank us for our site, there was a sudden drop in overall interest after the market soared.
But what goes up must come down. There are many voices warning that the worst is yet to come. I do not know if they are predicting the future or simply their own anxieties, but it really doesn’t matter.
Emergencies are independent of our country’s financial situation. Hurricanes and earthquakes pay no attention to us, although it is would be wise of us to pay attention to their possibilities. Wars happen when times are bad. Wars happen when things are doing better. Car accidents claim the lives of a couple tens of thousands each year, pretty much no matter what we do.
Frankly, a little anxiety is a good thing. It nudges us to prepare. And then, when we do prepare, we are much less likely to get sucked into fear when something happens. If you do all you can do… then you earn the right to relax about the future. Anxiety and fear are no longer necessary. Things may go bad, and get worse, perhaps become a world-class disaster. But if you have done what you can, then there is no need for you to worry any longer.
That’s where I’m at. I’ve done what I think I need to do to prepare for the worst of times. Of course I can always do more, and I absolutely know there will be some point in time where I’ll slap my forehead and ask myself, ‘why didn’t I get some more of those when I had the chance?’ But I’m pretty happy with my choices. Now when I hear doom and gloom coming from the media, I mentally smile a little. Because whatever comes, I’ve done my best for now, so that I can do my best when whatever is to come… gets here. It’s actually quite a happy feeling.
Knowledge takes the longest time to build up, so that should be everyone’s first priority. Materiel is necessary too, but you’ll make much better choices if you know at least the basics about what you’re doing. For that very reason, we’re trying to expand the knowledge base of this site as quickly as we can. Please bear with us. It takes time to do things well.
In the meantime, please stock some sort of emergency food, store water, and get a first aid kit. It doesn’t matter if your choices are not perfect. Having even a small stock of essentials could mean so much. You can be perfect later. But it would be wonderful to have a little bit on hand to see you through the first few days of a disaster.
Take care of yourself, and the ones around you.
