This article was originally published by Daisy Luther at The Organic Prepper
When disaster strikes, will you be ready? Will you be organized, calm, and ready to adapt to whatever the situation brings? Sometimes we have some warning, and sometimes things happen out of the blue. There is one simple secret that will allow you to sail through nearly any crisis. It doesn’t cost a lot of money or take up an entire roomful of storage space: acceptance.
You can’t take the actions that could save your life until you have accepted the fact that something bad enough has happened that those actions need to be taken.
The more time you spend denying that this – whatever “this” is – could ever happen to you, happen in your hometown, or occur at all, the less time you have to take definitive action. In fact, your willingness to accept that disaster could strike before it ever does puts you even further ahead, because you’ll be ready for immediate action without wasting valuable time wrapping your brain around it.
I’m not the only person who thinks that acceptance is important. Selco wrote that when the SHTF in Bosnia, most people missed the fact that it was all going down until it was too late to take steps to protect themselves.
You may miss the signs. I did.
I have seen all the signs above, and I failed to run. I ended up right in the middle of SHTF.
It is not only important to see and recognize signs. It is important to believe that it can actually happen. Because after I saw all the signs, I just said to myself, “Oh, it cannot happen here. Somebody somehow is gonna solve everything.”
It is very hard to trust in something that you did not experience before. Only now do I believe that a lot of horrible things are possible. (source)
He wrote in another article that because he didn’t accept how bad things were getting, he did not loot as much as he should have when society broke down. He didn’t accept the fact that new rules were in play.
Please understand that when I talk about acceptance, I’m not telling you to just sit there and accept your fate. I’m advising you to avoid your brain’s way to protect itself through denial because that will slow you down.
We watched denial at work firsthand during the King Fire.
A few years back, we hovered on the edge of evacuation for 12 days due to the King Fire, a forest fire that nearly reached 100,000 acres. We got up on a sunny Saturday morning, never realizing that would be the day an angry man would punctuate a domestic dispute by setting fire to a tree in the other person’s yard. Certainly, no one expected that one act of anger to set off a fire that would exceed the size of the city of Atlanta.
However, he did set that fire, and it came as close as 2 miles to our home over the almost-two-weeks that we watched with bated breath.
During the fire, I joined a number of local groups online so that I could get the most up-to-the-minute information, and during this time, I took lots of notes of my observations. The thing that was very clear is that those who were at least somewhat prepared handled the situation far better than those who simply couldn’t accept that this threat was actually happening to them.
As someone who has studied preparedness for many years, I witnessed firsthand the classic exemplar of human behavior during a disaster. Tess Pennington, the author of The Prepper’s Blueprint, wrote an article called The Anatomy of a Breakdown. In the article, she pointed out that in the event of a disaster, society devolves in a predictable pattern with four distinct phases. Her observations were accurate during our experience. As we watched the events unfold, some people changed dramatically.
What helps you to be calm during a crisis?
The difference between the people who crumbled, becoming easily offended, snarling, and hysterical, and the people who were generous, calm, and effective? Their levels of preparedness, both mental and physical. Because they were prepared, they had already
Think about any stressful situation that has ever happened to you. Once you accepted the fact that it had happened you were able to set a course of action. Once you had definitive steps to take, you probably felt much calmer. You took control of the things you could, and you executed your plan. Only by taking that first step – accepting that this mishap had indeed occurred – could you take the next two.
1.) Accept
2.) Plan
3.) Act
No matter what situation you find yourself in, these steps will nearly always see you through. (Here’s an article about that process.)
Here’s how it all went down.
During our own experience, here are the things I witnessed. They could apply to any type of disaster, natural or otherwise. Notice how acceptance plays a starring role in many of them.
Bug out bags are absolutely the first prep you should make. If you’re just getting started, do this one thing. You can do it without spending a penny, by just gathering up things that you already own. You may not have a top-of-the-line, ready-for-the-apocalypse bag like this one, but you’ll still be far ahead of most people. When we first learned of the fire and realized that evacuating might become necessary, I had only two things to do. I had to get documents from the safe (the documents, by the way, were already housed in a plastic folder, so I only had to grab that one thing) and pull the pet carriers out of the shed. In less than 5 minutes, we were ready to roll. Had it been necessary, we could have left with only the photocopies of the documents, because those always remain in our bug-out bags. Having your bug-out bag ready means that you have accepted in advance that disaster could strike.
Any time one disaster strikes, several more are sure to follow. This is highly probable. Some people in the fire zone not only stayed on the edge of evacuation for nearly two weeks, but they also lost power due to the fire. This greatly reduced their ability to get news and information, which is vital in a disaster situation. It leads to even more worry and stress, and while you’re dealing with the potential of your home burning down, you’re also living through a power outage lasting several days. Getting prepared for a two-week power outage is absolutely vital and can see you through most regional disasters. Also, when it finally began to rain, although it helped to quench the flames, firefighters were suddenly threatened by flash floods. These were made worse because the areas no longer had the same natural obstructions to deter the flow of water.
Unprepared people panic. Some people panicked initially. When we got the first evacuation alert (a notice that evacuation was highly likely within the next 24 hours), a woman who lived down the street was wailing and sobbing as her husband tried to pack up their vehicle. She was rendered absolutely useless by fear. Meanwhile, my 13-year-old was fulfilling her list while I fulfilled mine and we quickly made an orderly stack of important belongings, then turned on a movie to beat the stress. Had our area actually been forced to evacuate, those who panicked would have either been the last to leave, or they would have forgotten important things as they left in a disorganized rush. It’s important to decide ahead of time who packs what, and for each person to have a list. Sit down well before disaster strikes and make an evacuation plan with your family.
Get organized. All the lists in the world won’t help you pack quickly if you don’t know where things are. One change we’re making is that all of the items we deemed precious enough to pack and take with us will now be stored in one area so that we won’t have to look for them when seconds count. Another friend ran into the issue of dirty clothes: he actually had to evacuate with hampers of unwashed laundry. Having your home tidy and organized (and your laundry washed and put away) will help your packing go smoothly in the event of a sudden evacuation.
You can’t be prepared for everything. Disaster situations are always fluid and they don’t go by a script. It’s vital to be adaptable to the changing situation.
Keep your vehicle full of fuel. If you have to evacuate, lots of other people will be hitting the road too. When you’re stuck in traffic, you don’t want to be worried about your fuel gauge dropping to the empty mark, leaving you stranded in a dangerous situation.
The criminals come out, like cockroaches. Within 24 hours of the first evacuations, we learned that the local scumbags had looted some of the homes that had been left unattended. Within 48 hours, we learned that the scourge had reached the outlying areas, with these people breaking into cars that had been loaded up with the things that families had determined to be most important to them. Of course, if you’ve evacuated, there’s nothing you can do about what’s happening to your home. But before evacuation, or in the event of civil unrest, it’s vital to be prepared to defend your family and belongings. In these situations, the first responders are busy, and that’s what criminals rely on. You should consider yourself to be completely on your own, and be ready for trouble. Keep in mind that during the civil unrest in Ferguson recently, the only businesses that didn’t get looted were the ones at which the owners stood armed and ready to defend their property.
The longer the stress lasts, the worse some people behave. As continued stress is applied, the true nature of a person becomes evident. People who formerly seemed like perfectly nice individuals were on the local message forums saying terrible things to one another. They were verbally attacking others for imagined slights and taking offense at things that would normally never ruffle feathers. Some folks were launching tirades against the very people who were performing the greatest service: the admins of the webpages who worked round the clock to keep us informed. If it was this bad in a potential emergency, can you imagine how bad things will get in a truly devastating long-term scenario?
But then…some people are wonderful. Alternatively, sometimes you see the very best of human nature. The generosity of many of my neighbors cannot be overstated. They housed livestock, pets, and families full of strangers during the evacuation. People showed up at the shelter with food and comfort items for those who had been evacuated. Firemen who came from near and far to fight the blaze were constantly being treated to meals at local restaurants, as other diners surreptitiously paid their tabs. Watching the kindness and gratitude helped to restore some of my faith in human nature, after seeing the squabbling and crime. It was interesting to me that the people who gave the most generously were the ones who were the most prepared. These folks were calm and could focus on other things besides “Oh my gosh, I don’t know what to do!” We definitely learned who the people were that we wanted to surround ourselves with when the S really HTF.
Take steps now to be one of those calm people later.
Today, I want you to think about disasters. It’s certainly not a pleasant thought, but considering these things now – when there’s no fire bearing down on you, no hurricane heading your way, no chemical spill poisoning your water, no pandemic in the next town over – allows you to think more clearly and make a definitive plan of action. Instead of hoping it never happens to you and fearing that the actions you take will make it happen, accept that at some point, something bad will strike. And you’ll be ready.
So…
- Check your bug out bags.
- Organize your most precious belongings.
- Discuss your plans with your family so that everyone knows what to expect.
- Understand the most likely disasters in your area and know what to do if they strike.
- Learn more about the nature of the people around you and expect all that you know to change in the blink of an eye.
When – and it’s always “when” not “if” – disaster knocks at your door, be prepared to respond immediately. Learn about what to expect from others in order to keep your family safe and on-plan. Human nature isn’t as much of a variable when you can predict their behavior.
But most of all, accept the fact that bad things can happen. Don’t wallow in denial and waste precious time that could be spent surviving.
Please feel free to share any information from this article in part or in full, giving credit to the author and including a link to The Organic Prepper and the following bio.
Daisy is a coffee-swigging, gun-toting, homeschooling blogger who writes about current events, preparedness, frugality, and the pursuit of liberty on her websites, The Organic Prepper and DaisyLuther.com She is the author of 4 books and the co-founder of Preppers University, where she teaches intensive preparedness courses in a live online classroom setting. You can follow her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter,.
Thanks Daisy: Great advise. I still think you will have a little panic even if you are PREPPED. Like in war once the battle starts everything changes. You can only do the best you can.
Sgt.
https://www.redstate.com/kiradavis/2018/10/25/john-kasich-god-wants-us-let-migrant-caravan-cross-border/
BOOMERS REACH DEFCUCK 5 WITH JOHN KASICH
GOD TOLD HIM THAT WHITE CIVILIZATION MUST BE DESTROYED AND WHITES MUST PAY FOR IT
BOOMERS COULDNT CARRY THE PILGRIMS’ JOCKSTRAPS
DO YOU HAVE ANY INKLING OF WHAT THE PILGRIMS WENT THROUGH TO SURVIVE THE FIST FEW YEARS??? ALL IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM???
READ UP ON MY PEOPLE
I conquered some fucking amazing European pussy.
This gorgeous bitch was very tall, skinny, brown straight hair, extremely white skin, medium breasts, and legs that went up forever.
I picked up this sexy whore at the pool showing off her out of this world ass in a bikini. Spit the old alpha game at her and she lapped it all up like a thirsty dog. Fun loving slut. She really liked me too. What girl couldnt? Helped me work all the kinks out.
Light years better than the fat cunty hogs with tattoos everywhere we have in this country. Obedience is the first virtue of well bred young women. Dominating them is the fist step to recovering our society. And you cant deny that both genders are just plain happier when traditionalism is forced on everyone.
Bring back traditional marriage, outlaw divorce, ban women from voting, repeal anti discrimination laws.
I’m glad you finally got laid. Now leave us alone.
…”European pussy”… “Bring back traditional marriage…”
Eisen, you make no sense at all.
STD’s are going to be your close friend if you keep that up.
Besides, you claimed the name of Christ awhile back. You were not sincere, were you.
Eisen, You should be BANNED from this site.
Everyone here is calm, prepared, and has a plan. Right?
“Everyone has a plan until they are hit in the face.” –Iron Mike Tyson (hide your ears)
Seriously. Don’t overestimate your skills or “plan”. Might get you killed?
Praying to God and Jesus might be the best plan. We are all on borrowed time and live in interesting times. Might get sporty. Are you ready? Really?
Summary:
Ying- Slow it down. Think within the chaos. Don’t rush.
Yang- Immediate action. no delay.
Pray- We all need all the help we can get. Because out of your blind side is often where danger materialises.
Now it’s time for beer.
I think what Daisy was trying to convey was the phenomenom of the “Normalcy Bias”. Let me say this, In the scenario of the Famines in the Ukraine in the 1920’s, it became “normal” to be a cannibal. May we never lose our morals during crisis. It doesn’t mean to be a patsy for others.
After the Holomodor in the Ukrain, people compartmentalized everything they did previously and just simply forgot about the evil crimes alot of them committed. Like it never happened.
Know this, that most of the people around us today have been raised on situational ethics and will normalize everything. Seek our people who have empirical ethics, based on the Bible or Natural Law or tradition. You’ll be alot better off.
The Purge movies are very popular with millennials right now, unfortunately. This goes to show how most Millennials and other groups will “normalize” everything.
It will never be okay to loot people, kill innocents, take people’s freedoms or stuff away. If one does that, there will be a reckoning, with God or with a force higher than we are. It’s probably why Selco survived, because he did refrain from alot of the evil around him, whether he knows that or not.
SOP,
you are likely here because your ancestors did whatever was necessary to survive.
I am here because my ancestors refused to fight and die in the Kings wars. They refused to be conscripts, canon fodder. They left the fatherland.
People that want to live will become animals. Worse than animals. My city has animals Now. One hood thug murdered a beautiful lady dentist, DDS Hatcher, for $500. Irony is that she seemed like the sweet kind person that would have given him $500 just because he needed it. Life is cheap among hood rats Now. Just imagine when things get sporty.
I predict that you too will loose morals around day 15 with no food. Around day 3 if no water.
Most men will loose morals by day 3 if their woman and children are hungry.
To believe you are above that is dellusional. People are animals in clothes.
Read the book: “Starvation by Hunger”
Movie for you. Old from 1970. “No Blade of Grass”
Book: “The Killing Fields”
basically long ago I determined the only truly irreplaceable things were the family photo albums, and I made sure to have them also uploaded in a special folder accessible online in case the physical albums were destroyed. EVERYTHING else is replaceable. In the cargo hold of my car I have a case of water, blanket, pillow, extra shoes and socks, flashlight, small defensible knife, a couple bic lighters, a roll of toilet paper, a white muslin dish towel, a bar of soap in waterproof snap shut case, a roll of duct tape and a bag of Reeses Pieces. Just got to grab the guns and I’m all set-
I remember the Cuban missile crisis when people cleaned out stored in a hew hours. The slow to react starved to death was the accepted idea by the paniced people. No mercy or sharing of food was offered. it was every man for himself period. Cleaning supplies were the only thing left in the stores. Just empty shelves and hard feelings among former friends. In a recent fire where I walked out of the house and saw a forest fire coming I had a few seconds of panic and disbelief and then went to work fast. The well was dead due to no power but I had emergency water storage tanks. I used that water to fight the fire to 30 ft from my home until help came to fight the fire. I was too busy to be afraid. Later I was in shock for days but previous planning saved the day as I had hundreds of gallons of stored water and fire fighting tools Plan ahead and stage drills on fire fighting and other crisis issues
Better than many sheep. Not anywhere as good at it as I need to be.
Example: some neighbor from Chile attempting to run an Air BnB out of a property she was renting herself. In Los Angeles no less. It’s bad enough what the rents are here, it’s worse because it’s in a good area and even on top of that the landlord is overcharging from market value by a good 20% at least. This was obviously going to fail for her, I called it from day 1. Also all the seedy characters she gets herself involved with. Used to think that was deliberate, now I think it’s some misguided version of “you shouldn’t judge other people” because frankly she’s a seedy character herself. Pot habit. Very likely BPD disorder. Always looking for some way to game the system and failing hilariously because she can’t take the unbelievable stress and hatred that comes with that (I’ve see people do it successfully, you become very extraordinarily unpopular and always looking over your shoulder).
Another one, crazy ass mom that ended up killing her 2 year old from neglect. Called that from day 1 as well.
My present situation. My company makes everything in China. Everything. Back in the day they wanted to have China do all the design work too and just be a testing house. I insisted on us designing everything, owning all the information, and just using China as a manufacturing base (didn’t have any control over this last part) as at least THEN if shit hit the fan we could take all the designs elsewhere. As far back as 97 I saw China eventually becoming an “enemy of the State”.
Well here we are, facing down a 25% tarif, our competitors have enough sales through wholesale channel to just eat this and if they all do it at the same time they destroy our product. And they know it. We’d be charging more for less.
Are we doing something? Painfully slowly. First off our management lacks the will for quick decisive action, they all mistakenly believe that this is a temporary thing that they just have to weather for 2 years. Second off we’re just coming out of a disaster of a warehouse relocation that kept our product shipping late all year and thus destroyed our customer base’s confidence. So this is like getting the flu when you have full blown AIDS. Third of all I drastically underestimated capacity of any new supplier in say Taiwan / Vietnam / Mexico that we might even attempt to go to. Could we port everything? Sure, if we went right now like our head was on fire and we spent… oh 5 years. They’re just not big enough to handle our volume. And that right there was my miscalculation.
Will the company survive it? Probably, at about 1/3 it’s present size. As a crippled zombie. Will I survive it? No.
Not a chance.
I accept that. What I’m struggling with is how long I have and I better get the fuck out of the “bargaining” phase. I have an aging parent I have to pay for their care but this is happening now, I don’t think I have 3 to 5 years to wait it out and hope. It’s probably more akin to 18 months before everyone gets super pissy from the pain, and maybe 27 months before the obvious waves of layoffs begin.
Time to nut up or shut up, self.
If I was an outside observer on my own life, what would I tell me? Run. That’s what.
That’s key. Think of yourself as observing someone else’s life, it makes shit a whole lot clearer real quick.
“That’s key. Think of yourself as observing someone else’s life, it makes shit a whole lot clearer real quick.”
Very interesting advice, duly noted.
Due to the nature of the terrain where I live, “bugging” out isn’t really an option. For example my homes, and shop are more Hurricane proof than any of our local shelters. I could go down the list of natural and man made disasters I’m prepared for. Since I’ve been through my share of disasters, I’d say I’m ready to stay right where I’m at.
But like any situation the most important first thing to do is realize you have a problem, never, never try to ignore the fact that there is a problem. You must act in a measured fashion, even if it turns out it wasn’t a problem. Panic will kill you. I’m a PADI certified diver. Most the training is how not to panic when something goes very wrong! If you panic you may be dead in less than a minute.
My point is, hesitation may kill you.
I think that is what the author is really saying.
Jack Daniels.
When you’ve lived in the same location for a long time, it is hard to visualize yourself living somewhere else. For most people, the older you are, the more reluctant you are to relocate. The world is about to change drastically. If you have thought things through and situated yourself well, you have done well for yourself. If you have just resigned yourself to living through these changes where life has placed you, you might be in trouble. It’s always better to think it through and choose your location based on how you believe things will play out. It is better to select and settle that to just settle where life places you.
All BS in real world.
Move. Mobility. Light and Fast Steady, move move move. Get the hell out. Leave it all. Stuff slows you down and makes you a target for cops, military, and thugs.
People might not kill you if you have nothing to steal rob from you.
Move move move.
Don’t listen to ANY authority or media they just LIE. Just drive, ride, walk, run, go go go until you are the hell away from whatever happened.
Have a coat, hat, gloves, water, light snacks, hidden gun, and all the cash you can get hold of. Nothing else. Just run. Do this and you might live. Stay you die. Preps are a fantasy world. That stuff will get you killed. Please must understand that. People with stuff die and targeted.
Do not seek comfort. Do not seek “help”. Just move quickly at steady motion.
You will have no help. You will be tired hungry dirty thirsty cold hot wet bug bites, in pain, maybe injured… just how it is when it is bad. Detach from present and get the hell out. Move to a non affected area. No matter how far you must go. Hide. Always hide. Look then move. Look ahead then move. Never trust the uniforms, they kill you, send you to bad place, cops soldiers officials ALL bad.
My friends and family stayed and Died. All of them who stayed.
amazing—!! Einsenkruck (above) can say anything at al that’s amazingly offensive to others but NO ONE can say anything offensive at all about him on this site BECAUSE IT WILL BE DELETED!!! (NOT ALLOWED!! WILL NOT BE POSTED!!
(He can put ANYONE DOWN!!) Whether its females, blacks, kids, whatever–its ok with this site!!! HOWEVER, don’t say one single word about him that’s offensive or your comments will NOT APPEAR ON THIS SITE!! Try it!! I dare you! Call him a dirty word and watch what happens to your post!
Anon,
One without a name. My name Rellik is my D&D Ork character. My grandson is a talented Dungeon Master. I haven’t played D&D in years. He picked it up on his own.
Typically you are not allowed to personally attack people, just ideas. In my state they call it “terroristic threatening” and other states call it “assault” when you verbally/textually attack a person.
Besides “Eisenkreutz” or whatever it calls itself now, is quite entertaining.
THX
762
J J
time for a burger
I replied to you very civilly and it went into moderation.
Meh. It will be interesting to see if this second reply works.
Anon,
One without a name. My name Rellik is my D&D Ork character. My grandson is a talented Dungeon Master. I haven’t played D&D in years. He picked it up on his own.
Typically you are not allowed to personally attack people, just ideas. In my state they call it “terroristic threatening” and other states call it “assault” when you verbally/textually attack a person.
Besides “Eisenkreutz” or whatever it calls itself now, is quite entertaining.
Before acceptance is the ability to CONFRONT a situation. Looking at it “square in the face”, so to speak. And acceptance should take place in a millisecond before appropriate action, whether that action is to create a plan of action, a sudden assault against an enemy or danger, or running away at the speed of light.
_
I think what Daisy was trying to convey was the phenomenom of the “Normalcy Bias”. Let me say this, In the scenario of the Famines in the Ukraine in the 1920’s, it became “normal” to be a cannibal. May we never lose our morals during crisis. It doesn’t mean to be a patsy for others.
After the Holomodor in the Ukrain, people compartmentalized everything they did previously and just simply forgot about the evil crimes alot of them committed. Like it never happened.
Know this, that most of the people around us today have been raised on situational ethics and will normalize everything. Seek our people who have empirical ethics, based on the Bible or Natural Law or tradition. You’ll be alot better off.
I have seen that the Purge movies are very popular with millennials right now, unfortunately. This goes to show how most Millennials and other groups will “normalize” everything.
It will never be okay to loot people, kill innocents, take people’s freedoms or stuff away. If one does that, there will be a reckoning, with God or with a force higher than we are. It’s probably why Selco survived, because he did refrain from alot of the evil around him, whether he knows that or not.
I mean, one can never be too prepared for any crisis to occur, it will still bring about some amount of shock and panic. But good tips for preparation though.