Category: preparedness

Planting a survival garden requires you to foresee and prepare for a number of possible scenarios that could kill your plants and leave you without a source of food. One of the most dreaded of these scenarios is an extended drought. Many plants are unable to survive more than a few days without water.  In a survival scenario where no rain is falling, providing water to them can be a real struggle.

While it’s important to devise a plan for watering your plants during a drought, it’s also beneficial to have plants that you can rely on to survive drought when the weather turns hot and water is scarce. The plants listed below are all able to survive without water longer than the average plant and can handle the heat quite well. If you live in a part of the country where drought is a possibility (which is most of the country), consider including these plants in your survival garden.

Eggplant
Once the plant has been established, eggplants are able to survive droughts better than most vegetables. Eggplants are a heat-loving plant and won’t begin to wilt until daytime temperatures exceed 95 degrees for an extended period of time. Eggplants will also still set fruit in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees so long as they have some moisture and nutrients.

Figs
Fig trees need ample sun in order to thrive, but they aren’t particularly picky about the soil they grow in or the high temperatures they’re exposed to. Come time to harvest, fig trees will yield a bounty of sweet, sticky fruit.

It’s recommended that you water figs every five days during the summer months in order to yield the biggest fruit, which isn’t a lot, especially considering that figs are able to survive and yield fruit with even less water. Add to that the fact that fig trees love the heat and are easy to care for, and you’ve got a plant that is well worth considering as part of your drought-preparedness strategy.

Peppers
In addition to having some heat of their own, peppers handle heat and droughts quite well. It doesn’t particularly matter what variety of pepper that you plant, as most all peppers are fairly drought-resistant. Larger peppers such as bell peppers will naturally provide more sustenance, but there’s certainly nothing wrong with mixing up your pepper plants for more variety – provided, of course, that you can handle the heat yourself!

Oriental Persimmons
If you’ve ever had the misfortune of tasting a wild persimmon that isn’t quite ripe, just the name persimmon alone might put a bitter taste in your mouth. However, the flavorful oriental persimmons have little in common with their wild-growing namesake.

Oriental persimmon trees produce tomato-sized fruit that is fairly firm and sweet. What makes oriental persimmon trees drought-resistant is the nature of the tree’s root system. Most fruit trees have roots that are shallow and branch out. Oriental persimmon trees, however, have a tap root that goes deep into the ground, allowing the tree to collect water even when all the water near the surface of the soil has dried up and other trees are struggling.

Sweet Potatoes
Most varieties of potatoes don’t do well in hot climates and instead prefer cooler soil. This is not the case with sweet potatoes, however, as they do quite well when the weather turns hot. Like any other variety of potato, sweet potatoes are full of carbs that will keep you full and energized in a survival situation, and they have a high yield relative to the amount of area they take up.

Okra
A southern classic, okra is considerably more drought-resistant than most vegetables and does well in hot, summer weather.  Okra pods can be added to soups and stews, grilled, or battered and fried. The last method is the most popular way to cook okra, as any other method leaves okra quite slimy – an off-putting texture for many. Prepared correctly, though, okra makes for a delicious dish that you will be able to enjoy when there’s not enough rain to keep other plants in your garden alive.

Pomegranate
Pomegranates have gained a lot of popularity recently among natural health enthusiasts thanks to the fruit’s powerful antioxidant properties. Hailing from the Middle East and the Mediterranean, pomegranate trees are used to the heat and are quite drought-resistant.

Getting the fruit out of a pomegranate’s fleshy outer shell requires a little bit of work. However, the sweet morsels inside are well worth the effort.

Natal Plums
Natal plum trees are among the heartiest of all fruit trees. Not only are the trees drought-resistant, they’re also able to grow in a wide range of soil conditions and climates.

With a wintertime harvest, natal plums won’t provide any food during the drought. However, they’ll be able to survive the drought and provide you with food in the winter that follows.

Carrots
Simply looking at a carrot and understanding how the plant functions will let you know why carrots are more drought-resistant than most vegetables. The part of the carrot that you eat is the plant’s root, meaning that the carrot is able to extend deep down into the soil and collect water that other plants can’t.

Black Eyed Peas
Like most plants native to the Southwest, black-eyed peas are plenty capable of surviving a drought and hot weather. The peas themselves contain very little moisture, meaning that little water is required to produce them. Combine this with a relatively deep root system and black-eyed peas are plenty capable of producing food when the weather turns hot and the rain stops falling.

Jujube
Also known as a red date or Chinese date, jujube trees are a drought-resistant fruit tree native to the Chinese mainland. Originally, jujube fruits were quite sour. Over the past few thousand years, though, growers have tweaked the species to produce a fruit that is much sweeter and more enjoyable.

Jujube trees may not be the most well-known fruit tree. However, their resistance to drought and ability to produce fruit in hot climates make them an option worth considering.

Horned Cucumber
As a general rule, most varieties of cucumber are fairly drought resistant, and the horned cucumber is even more drought resistant. This unusual cucumber is quite different from the cucumbers that most people are familiar with, as the fruit it produces is spiny, bright orange, has a jelly-like texture, and is said to taste like a cross between a lime, a cucumber, and a banana.

Beets
One of the main sources of sugar aside from sugarcane, beets handle the heat and drought quite well. The deep purple tubers grow and are harvested much like potatoes. If you don’t wish to make processed sugar, though, don’t worry; beets are quite tasty in salads, pickled, or mixed into other dishes.

Watermelon
Given the amount of water in a watermelon, it may come as a surprise that this fruit grows best in long, hot summers and well-drained soil. While watermelon will naturally need some water to produce fruit, you won’t have to worry about the high heat wilting the plant and killing off its fruit.

Malabar Spinach
Ordinary spinach plants don’t do particularly well in a drought. Malabar spinach, however, which grows on a vine and tastes similar to the spinach you’re used to, loves the heat and can survive a drought quite well. Since you’ll have a hard time getting most leafy greens to produce in a drought, Malabar spinach is definitely a green you should consider planting in order to incorporate leafy greens into your diet during a drought.

Beans
Most every variety of beans, from bush beans to pole beans and beyond, are able to handle the heat and drought incredibly well. The best part is that you’ve got a lot of options considering all the different varieties of beans that are available, meaning that planting several different types of beans in your garden will add plenty of variety to your drought-time cuisine.

Kei Apples
Kei apple trees originate from southwest Africa, which is enough alone to tell you that this fruit tree is able to handle the heat and drought. The Kei apple tree grows up to thirty feet tall and produces smallish, bright yellow apples.

Kei apple trees are also able to grow in high salinity soil. However, they do prefer the dry air of higher climates, meaning that growing them in a humid climate may prove difficult.

Squash
Squash is one of the few vegetables where the hotter the temperature is, the bigger the fruit they produce. This goes for all varieties of squash, both summer squash and winter squash alike.

This fact enables you to plant vegetables with both a summertime and a winter harvest and ensure that they will be able to survive any dry, hot weather that comes along.

I was talking with a friend the other day who was some-what boasting about all the things he’d acquired to provide for his family in the event of some potential disaster in the future.  I must admit, I was pretty impressed with the long list of things he rattled off and the amount of money he said he spent to “get ready”.

I’m one of those that prefers not to say too much about what I’ve put away for a rainy day, especially if I’m talking to someone I don’t know very well.  So when others want to start talking about all their preps, I’m all ears and just listen and ask questions to learn as much as I can about potential areas where I could improve.

My buddy started listing things like his food storage (over a one year supply for his family), water storage and purification systems, first aid, solar panels, wind turbine, a huge amount of split fire wood, 800 lbs. of charcoal briquettes, 200 gallons of propane, and the list just kept going.  I can’t even remember all the things he mentioned.  I would stop him every now and then to get details and clarification on an area where I felt I was a little weak.  It was actually rather entertaining.  It’s almost as if he was about to burst his buttons, he was so proud of his accomplishments and he just couldn’t keep it a secret – he had to tell someone!

I made sure I complimented him several times for his accomplishments (I could sense he really wanted that validation) and asked him what his next step was and if he was going to continue adding to his supplies.  He looked at me kind of funny, almost as if I’d somehow just missed his entire presentation and stated, “Dude, I’m done!  I’m ready!”  It now came more into focus, he felt he had completed his homework assignment and he was now giving his oral report and wanting not only a very high score, but a significant amount of praise.

And you know what, that’s OK.  At least he took the assignment to prepare seriously and did a great job and his best in accomplishing that task. (Just a side note, this guy is pretty well healed financially so he definitely had the where-with-all to get it done in a hurry.)  If it had been a race, he chose the 100 yard dash and sprinted to the finish line.  Unfortunately, for most of us, it’s far more than even a marathon, probably more like an ultra-long distance mountain run similar to the Hardrock 100 Mile Endurance Run in Colorado.  This race has 34,000 feet of ascent!

For most of us it will take time, both to figure out what is the best solution for our family’s needs as well as needing to work within our budgets.  While we’re moving down this preparedness path, it’s helpful on occasion to grade ourselves as to the progress we’re making.  This will assist in possibly providing needed course correction that will help us get to the finish line as quickly as our conditions will allow.

I came across an interesting rating system recently that helps bring the priorities of prepping into focus.  It rates one’s preps into five categories.  Take a look at these questions and grade yourself on how you’re doing by way of preparations and see which category you fit in.

5 Levels of Preparation

Level 0:  Every emergency is a disaster
Less than two weeks of food in the house
No water purification system
No bug-out bag
No defensive weapons
No way to produce their own food
No physical gold or silver
No tangible assets to barter

Level 1:  Can Survive Two Weeks of Minor Emergency
Have sufficient food and water for two weeks of emergency
Able to heat their home for two weeks without relying on the power grid by use of kerosene heater or fireplace
Able to cook their meals for two weeks without relying on the power grid
Has a first aid kit
Likely has no defensive weapons
Must leave their home after two weeks due to lack of preparation

Level 2:  Can Survive One Month of an Emergency
Likely has a portable power generator and sufficient fuel for one month of operation
Has handguns or shotgun to defend their home
Has a month’s worth of food storage
Has sufficient prescription medicines for 30 days
Has enough batteries for powering a portable radio for 30 days

Level 3:  Can Survive Three Months of an Emergency
Has a deep-short term pantry
Likely has a water purification system
Likely has defensive weapon for each family member
Likely has some type of neighborhood safety watch or 24 hour security watch rotation at the home
Has stocked wood to burn in fireplace and/or wood burning stove
Has communication gear to keep track of local and world events
Has means to recharge batteries without relying on power grid
Has three months of prescription medicines

Level 4:  Can Survive One Year of an Emergency
Has a deep short and long-term food pantry
Likely has their own garden to produce food
Likely has small-sized farm animals to produce protein (chickens, goats, rabbits)
Has a deep supply of ammo (2000+ rounds per weapon)
Has a spare weapon in event of damage
Has means to produce herbal medicines to replace prescriptions
Has a long-term store of antibiotics
Likely has dog for security watch
Has full 24 hour rotation of security watch on the home (requires 6 adults)
Should have secondary off-site storage of food, weapons, and ammo
Is ready to bug-out with full hiking and camping gear, if security situation degrades
Is able to educate their children at home

Level 5:  Can Survive Indefinitely from their Home during an multi-year SHTF or TEOTWAWKI situation
Has a fully functioning large garden or small farm for food production
Is able to can and store the results of food harvest for the coming year
Is able to harvest seeds for next year’s planting
Is able to raise multiple generations of farm animals (cattle, sheep, horses)
Has horses for local and distance travel
Has enough ammo to last a generation (10,000+ rounds per weapon)
Has spares of each weapon and lots of extra magazines
Able to generate their own fuel (bio-diesel, alcohol)
Likely has fully functional solar power bank with deep storage batteries
Has natural on-site water sources for farm and home
Has home-based business to generate income
Is able to build new buildings and make any necessary repairs to existing buildings
Is able to provide excess food for charity
Has a secondary residency (such as mountain cabin) for full bug-out
Is prepared for minor surgery and child birth at home
Has stores of gold and silver for barter
Is able to produce their own clothing (from raw wool or raw cotton with spinning wheel and small loom)
________

I’m fairly certain most of us would prefer not to consider having to live under the conditions of levels four or five.  Many are still struggling with trying to complete the requirements of level one.  My purpose of sharing this information is not to overwhelm or depress you but to possibly assist you in understanding what it really takes to become truly self-reliant and provide for an uncertain future.  Choose the level where you feel most comfortable and work on it as a family and you will experience the peace of mind and sense of security you deserve.

For as long as I can remember, the availability of food has not been an issue.  If we run out of something, sure it’s an inconvenience but knowing that item can easily be replaced by just running down to the local grocery store makes it really a non-issue.

I believe this is one of the primary issues why most people don’t take the time or make the effort to prepare for the possibility of not being able to go to the grocery store.  The idea seems foreign and unlikely for most.  Surely the government will do whatever it takes to keep food on the shelves, right?

Unfortunately, far too many good people live in a bubble of complacency assuming all is well and life will continue to move forward as it is today.

The fact is, today is as good as it ever will be.  If one believes in the Bible, it’s quite clear that in the last days things are not going to get better.  There will be more wars and rumors of war, more natural disasters, more contention between once friends and even family members.

Or as the Apostle Paul describes in 2Timothy 3:1-5:  “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,  without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”  Do you see this happening around you or in the government today?  Yes, we are definitely in the last days!

Food Doesn’t Grow on the Shelves

Grocery stores don’t stock weeks of food anymore. Most keep only 72 hours of food on the shelves. They re-stock based on just-in-time delivery of food supplies. If the trucks stop rolling in your part of the country during a crisis, the store shelves will be emptied almost immediately. In fact, expect a shortage of mainstay items like milk and bread to occur similar to what happens before an approaching hurricane hits. Those who are aware of the problem but who haven’t already made preparations will engage in a last-minute rush to buy a few extra supplies.

Transportation is the Key

Without transportation, farmers can’t get their crops to the wholesalers or food processing facilities.  Food is heavy, generally speaking, and it requires trucks and trains to move it around — a literal ARMY of trucks and trains, weaving their way from city to city, optimized and prioritized by computers. If the computers freeze, the whole transportation infrastructure will shut down.

Transportation also depends heavily on fuel, which means the oil-producing countries in the Middle East have to be able to produce the oil that gets refined into diesel fuel here in America.  So, in other words, your food supply depends on Saudi Arabia being alive and well.  Do you trust the people in charge in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, and Kuwait with your life?  If you don’t make preparations now, you’re trusting them by default.

Cities Depend Entirely on Rural Land

Did you know cities would be ghost towns without the supporting imports of food from the country?  We should all thank the farmers a little more, because they literally keep us all alive. Cities are like concrete islands. You might think a city is self-sustaining until you really think about it, but underneath it all, that city is a ghost town without the people in the country supporting it.

You may already know that city people and country people have very different views on politics and life in general.  Country people tend to be more religious and more conservative.  City people tend to be more liberal.  So there’s more than a little animosity between country people and city people.

When a crisis hits, and the country people find they are without electricity and fuel, they will still survive, for the most part, because they’re used to surviving.  But do you think they will really put “saving city people” high on their list of priorities?  I don’t think so.  Any food that’s harvested from the fields will be kept and stored by the farmers themselves. They will NOT be shipping this stuff to the cities unless they have excess goods and can find a transportation method that still works (and has fuel).

Unfortunately, if some emergency powers acts are signed into place by the President, the Federal Emergency Management Association will have the legal power to actually confiscate and redistribute food. This makes it all the more likely that farmers will harvest it and HIDE IT in order to keep it.  And that means even less food making it to the cities.  Bottom line? Cities where food can’t be delivered will eventually be gutted, looted, evacuated and likely burned to the ground.

You Need to Start Stocking Food

You can do a lot if you start early. Unfortunately, “early” might have been yesterday. Now we’re way past early, and you need a reasonable plan to get food supplies that will store well and don’t cost too much.

An important aspect of storing food is assuring you store a wide variety of foods to avoid appetite fatigue. There are those who think providing variety in the diet is relatively unimportant and that if and when the time comes they’ll eat what they’ve got and that will be that.  For healthy, well, adjusted adults under ordinary circumstances or for those who have the vital survival mindset this might be possible without too much difficulty.  However, the reason for having a home food storage program in the first place is for when circumstances aren’t ordinary.

Times of crisis produce stress – possibly physical, but always mental.  If you are suddenly forced to eat a diet both alien and monotonous, it is going to add that much more stress on top of what you are already dealing with.  If your planning includes the elderly, young children, and/or infants there is a significant risk they will quit eating or refuse to eat sufficient amounts of the right foods leaving them unable to survive.

This is not a trivial problem and should be given serious consideration.  When it’s wheat, day in and day out, wheat’s going to start becoming unpopular fast. Far better to have a variety of foods on hand to forestall appetite fatigue and, more importantly, to use those storable foods in your everyday diet so that you’ll be accustomed to eating them.

In his book, “Making the Best of Basics”, James Stevens mentions a post-WWII study by Dr. Norman Wright, of the British Food Ministry, which found the people of England and Europe were more likely to reject unfamiliar or distasteful foods during times of stress than under normal conditions.  Consider the positive aspects of adding variety and comfort foods to your storage program.

So please consider the following, unless you are already familiar with a particular type of food, do not put large quantities of it into your pantry.  Sure, there may be great health benefits to eating quinoa or lentils, but most likely your family has not made a habit of eating such grains or legumes.

One of the best ways to overcome this concern is to focus on freeze-dried entrees with real meat you know your family likes.  It just doesn’t make any sense to load up on whole grains and basics when what you really need is more comfort foods you know your family will like and eat.  In addition, the thought of going to the effort of making a meal from whole grains versus just adding water to a freeze-dried meal, especially in times of stress, just doesn’t make sense.

Please take the time now to assure your family has an ample supply of the food they will want to eat and are easy to prepare as well as having an extended shelf life.

Every summer, our church provide​s​ a special activity for single adults ranging in age from 18 to 30.  We call it our Summer Summit and it’s held in the mountains about 8,000 feet above sea level at a church owned property.  It’s a 40 acre tract of land with three lakes, two of which have zip lines over the water.

It’s a two day activity with great food, camping out, rock climbing, swimming, canoeing, archery, trap shooting, hamster ball (if you’ve never heard of this, you’ve got to google it), rope courses, team building activities, speakers, and a big dance Friday night.  It really is a BIG production!

We typically have 600 to 700 young single adults attend and it’s just a blast.  My wife and I have been helping the last five years and even though it’s a lot of work, it’s a wonderful opportunity to get to know these young adults and watch them mingle and enjoy some good, clean fun.

This last year, my wife and I were assigned to oversee the waterfront on the main lake.  This included all swimming, canoeing and zip line activities.  We asked two other couples to assist us simply because there were just too many kids wanting to do too many different things all at the same time.

I really enjoyed working the zip line tower.  Kids would climb up a ladder to the top of the tower where I was standing, I would explain the rules and how best to jump out when they were over the water.  I would ​help ​them get properly seated in the harness and then tell them to jump off ​the tower ​when they were ready.

There was a long rope attached to the harness so that it could be pulled back to the tower after the rider jumped out.  I had no idea just how much work it would be to pull the harness back to the tower after each jump.  After 40 or 50 turns, my arms were screaming for a rest.  Even though one’s arms would get totally wasted pulling the harness back time after time, the real problem was happening silently and consistently without one even noticing.

The top of my head, my forehead, my nose​,​ the tops of my ears ​and the back of my neck were getting fried!  I was so preoccupied with the tasks at hand that I had neglected to wear a hat or any sunscreen.  The problem with getting severely sunburned is that it happens so easily that you really don’t know you’re in trouble until it’s too late.

That night and the next day, I really paid the price.  There wasn’t enough Aloe Vera in the county to drive away the pain.  I couldn’t believe I was so stupid as to not properly prepare for being out in the sun all day.  I seldom use sunscreen but usually I’ll w​ear​ at least a baseball cap that will protect the top of my head and my forehead.

One of the fellows that was helping us out at the water front was sporting a really cool looking hat.​  I asked him about it and he began an infomercial that I wasn’t expecting.  The hat he was wearing was called a Tilley hat and has quite a reputation as well as a lifetime guarantee.  He related several examples of how hats like his had been abused and subjected to extraordinarily harsh conditions and withstood it all.  The one example I remember was the story of how an elephant trainer had his Tilley hat eaten by an elephant and after it passed through the elephant’s digestive tract, was recovered, washed and continued to be used by the trainer as if nothing had ever happened to the hat.

Not that I was particularly concerned about the threat of an elephant eating my hat, but I was intrigued by the quality and the lifetime guarantee of the Tilley hat.  Most importantly, I though it looked nice and had a wide enough brim to cover ones forehead, ears and back on the neck.​

I like baseball caps but for prolonged outside exposure to the sun, they just don’t provide the protection that is needed.  So I started to pay attention and observe those who spend a lot of time in the sun and see what they used to shield themselves from the harsh effects of overexposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays.

I had a great example I watched for several weeks last summer when the owners of the home across the street from me decided to renovate and re-landscape their home.  The landscaping crew was predominately Mexican who seemed to know something many of us don’t realize.  They know how to dress for prolonged exposure to the sun and it obviously works.  Many of us, who don’t know better assume if it’s hot and we’re in the sun, remove as much clothing as possible to try and keep cool.

These construction workers knew better.  The first thing I noticed was that they all wore long-sleeved, collared shirts.  No collarless tee-shirts.  In addition, some wore hoodies with the hoods over their heads.  Others wore large brimmed hats that would provide sufficient shade to cover their heads and necks.  One older worker wore what I first thought was a costume or prank cowboy hat.  It must have been three times the size of a regular cowboy hat.  After watching him over several days, I realized it was a legitimate hat that provided a significant amount of shade.

Growing up in New Mexico, it was very common to see Navajo women wearing long velvet dresses out in the sun in the summer.  My father explained to me it actually helped insulate them against the heat rather than making them hotter.

In the event of some major event or natural disaster, the odds are you will be spending more time outside that you do now.  You certainly don’t want to add to your woes by not protecting yourself from the sun.  Put on your list to get the right kind of hat for each family member and make sure the brim is large enough to cover the ears and back of the neck.  Being properly prepared with the right kind of hats for your family will save you pain and discomfort in the future.

A few years ago, my father-in-law organized a pack trip through some spectacular high mountain trails in the Rocky Mountains.  We took horses on this trip with a couple of pack horses to carry all our gear.  One of the horses was a young two year old gelding that was still being trained.

Every so often we would cross a stream and would stop in the middle of the stream to let the horses drink.  In a particularly steep area, we came across a wide stream that crossed the trail.  We walked the horses out in the middle of the stream to once again let them drink.  The old saying, “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink” is so true.  The young gelding just stood in the water, looking down at it but did not drink.

I’ve never seen this before, but this young pack horse continued to stare at the passing water until something bizarre happened.  Watching the moving water caused the young horse to lose his balance and he just tipped over and fell down a steep incline.   The horse rolled a couple of times and the panniers were torn off spilling much of our gear in the water.  We thought for sure the horse would have broken a leg or worse.

We jumped off our horses and slid down the hill to try and rescue the horse and collect our gear.  As you can imagine, the horse was thrashing about, trying to stand up.  There were still ropes and the pack saddle attached to the horse which made him panic all the more.  It was only after a considerable amount of time and effort we were able to calm the horse down and get him back up to the trail.  It was nothing short of a miracle that he hadn’t broken any bones.

After tying up the horse, we gathered up all the gear we could find and repacked it into the panniers.  We tried to lighten the load on the young horse by carrying some of the gear on the other horses.  After about an hour, we were on the trail again headed for our first campsite.

This experience reminded me of one of my girls when she was a toddler.  We were at the beach enjoying the California weather.  I have a video of her running on the sand near the water’s edge.  As the waves would come in and the water line would move up the sand and then back out again, it would throw her balance off and she would fall.  It’s a cute video but I can’t help but wonder how often we act or react like the pack horse or my young daughter.  What are the things in our lives that we focus on?  Will that focus move us closer to what matters most or cause us to stumble and fall?

There’s a classic book entitled “As a Man Thinketh” written by James Allen and published in 1903.  The title is influenced by a verse in the Bible from the Book of Proverbs, chapter 23, verse 7: “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he”.  It’s only 70 pages long but is jam-packed with wisdom, the essence being, “A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.”

I’ve never been one who just listens to music on the radio while I drive.  I’ve always preferred spending my time listening to talk shows or motivational speakers.  Back in the days of cassette tape players in cars, I would keep a case of tapes of motivational speakers such as Zig Ziglar, Stephen Covey, Dennis Waitley, Ira Hayes, Paul Harvey, W. Clement Stone, Cavett Robert just to name a few.

One of my favorites was Earl Nightingale.  He was a famous radio speaker and author, dealing mostly with the subjects of human character development, motivation, and meaningful existence.  He died in 1989. He had a very distinctive voice with the ability to motivate without yelling or jumping up and down.  There was pure inspiration in his voice. He had a masterful way of communicating and many of his stories will forever remain seared into my memory banks.

Some of my favorites are “The Common Denominator of Success”, “Acres of Diamonds” and “Miracle of Your Mind”.  It would be well worth your time to Google these titles and listen to them.  A classic is “We Become What We Think About”.  Here’s a brief excerpt of that presentation:

Indeed, we become what we think about and that can be either positive or negative in our lives. There are times in our lives when we can become consumed with our thoughts.  I can’t help but think about two Hollywood examples portrayed in film.  First, there’s the entertaining holiday movie of Ralphie and his all-consuming plight of convincing his parents that the perfect Christmas gift would be a Red Ryder BB gun in “The Christmas Story” (one of my favorite Christmas movie traditions).  The thought of getting that BB gun totally consumed his every thought.

Then there’s the Disney portrayal of an enterprising frog named “Mr. Toad”.  When Mr. Toad first saw an automobile, he also became totally consumed with driving a car which led to “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride”.  This obsession became a mania for Mr. Toad, one he just couldn’t control.

There are times when becoming Ralphie or Mr. Toad can be a strong, positive thing in our lives, as long as we are allowing ourselves to be consumed with good, positive goals and objectives.  Even still, proper moderation is an essential key to keeping our lives balanced.  We can never allow any such goals to take precedence over what matters most.

Be prudent – don’t let prepping consume you and occupy your every thought.  There’s plenty of negative in the world that could keep us depressed and worried 24/7.  Focus on the positive, not the negative news we hear each day.  Take the time to properly prepare and then focus on the positive, hopeful and enjoyable aspects of your life.  Don’t fret about the future – tomorrow will come regardless of what we do today.

I had a humbling experience at the gym that taught me a valuable lesson.  On the second level of our city rec center/gym, there are several rooms surrounded by a track.  Two of the rooms are a cardio room with treadmills, elliptical​s​, ​e​xercycle​s​ and other similar equipment and the weight room with ​a variety of weight machines and free weights. Both of these rooms are enclosed by chain-link fences so it’s easy to see people as they run the track or go to any of the other rooms on that floor.

While in the weight room, I remember seeing a young family walking around as if they had a specific purpose for being there.  They had two young children, both less than five years old.  A few minutes later after I had re-focused on my lifting routine, I was startled by one of their children, a little girl, while I was using the squat machine.

I always wear earphones when working out but seldom listen to music.  It’s usually some podcast of a radio talk show that keeps my mind occupied.  So this little girl came up to me and in a quiet, shy voice asked if I would like a drink of water and then held out a bottle of water.  I was a little surprised by her kind offer and since I wasn’t sure if I had heard her correctly, I just said no thank you and continued with my workout.

When I moved to another piece of equipment, I could see the family again and it all came clear what was transpiring.  These good parents had wanted to give their children the opportunity of experiencing the joy of offering random acts of kindness.  Their game plan was to come to the gym with several bottles of water and give them to those who they thought might appreciate a drink.

All of a sudden, I felt horrible!  This cute little girl had approached me offering this kind gesture and I turned her away.  I felt like a real jerk!  I knew what I needed to do so I quickly left the weight area and walked down the hall to where the family was gathered.  I knelt down in front of the little girl and apologized for not accepting her gift and explained to her I wasn’t sure I had heard her correctly due to my ear phones.

I then asked if she still had that bottle of water because I really would love a drink.  She handed me the bottle and I noticed they had replaced the regular label with a homemade one encouraging me to pay this random act of kindness forward.  I thanked the little girl and apologized again for turning her away and told her what a wonderful thing she was doing with her family.

I smiled at her parents and I could tell how much they appreciated my helping their little girl feel the joy of giving.  I kept that water bottle to remind me of a weakness I have that I need to be far more humble and willing to receive and accept help and aid.

I have always thought of myself as a real self-reliant guy who didn’t need anybody’s help. ​If anything, I always saw myself as the one who would offer help, not receive it. ​ I’ve always felt I could solve most any problem – repair most any broken item and have the strength to comfort those in need of comfort feeling I was not one of the “weaker” ones.  Boy, what a stupid and arrogant way of thinking!  And it took a sweet little girl at the gym to humble me enough to recognize just how foolish I was.

We all go through different phases of our lives where times are good and other times when they’re not so great.  I don’t know of a single soul who couldn’t use some comfort or help at some time in their life.  We all fall into that category.

Part of this valuable lesson I learned was how inappropriate and thoughtless it is when we prevent others from receiving the blessings of service.  When we turn down such offers, we are depriving those sincere souls of the blessings of serving their fellowmen.

​When you take this feeling of superiority and independence to the next level, it can create significant difficulties when there are those who will refuse the council and guidance of others because they feel they know it all.  They don’t need other people offering suggestions or unsolicited council on how they might improve certain aspects of their lives.

Once again, this lack of humility, this attitude of not needing anyone else telling them how to improve their lives can and will create many problems going forward.  Several years ago, I was asked by a friend to go in business with him.  He had a great business idea and was going to offer both a product and service that were both needed and not currently addressed.

As we started putting our business plan together, I began feeling concerned because my new partner was making decisions that had the potential of adversely affecting the profitability and longevity of the company.  The bottom line was he had such a high level of greed, he didn’t want to spend any money to hire specific professionals that were needed to properly launch the company.  He wanted to handle the accounting, legal, R & D and marketing all in house – meaning him and me.

I felt very uncomfortable about not having the skill or required certification to properly handle our accounting and legal needs and my partner’s response was always. “We don’t need to be paying others for what we can do ourselves.”  Problem was, we couldn’t properly do these things ourselves.  We needed professional advice and assistance from legitimate accountants, lawyers, etc.  My partner and I unfortunately could not agree on this issue and ended up parting ways.

As I see it, there are two important acknowledgements we all need to embrace:

●  We don’t have all the answers.
●  It takes humility to ask for and receive the help and answers we need.

Just because I’ve been in the preparedness industry for over 35 years doesn’t mean I can’t still learn from others and their experience.  Being humble and willing to take advice from others does not diminish the knowledge and experience I’ve accumulated.  It’s one of my goals to strive each day to be more open to help and advice from others and show gratitude to those who offer such council and assistance.

If and when things get really dicey, trying to survive on your own is a real recipe for disaster and failure.  You need to surround yourself with like-minded people and learn from each other, being willing to help and be helped.  There is indeed safety in numbers.

So next time someone offers to help you with your groceries, or bring in your garbage can from the street or asks if they can shovel the snow from you walkway, let them help.  Next time someone opens a door for you or pulls out a shopping cart from the stack of carts and gives it to you, thank them sincerely and pay it forward. ​Work with me in trying to be more humble and allow others the blessings of offering service to you.

I’m not one for surprises and patience is unfortunately not my strong suite.  I like to know all the details and inside story right now.  It goes back to my youth; I discovered where my mom would hide the Christmas presents and when she would go to the store, I would open my presents to see what I was getting.  There were times that my brother and I not only opened the presents, but would play with the toys and then wrap them back up before my mom got home.  I look back on that now and feel really crumby about it and I’m sure I offended Santa.  Nevertheless, it’s still hard for me to be patient and wait for the answers.

I don’t think I’m alone in wanting answers to my prayers right now.  Surely Heavenly Father knows what I need so why can’t I receive the solution to my problems now?  What’s the purpose of making me wait to get the answers I so desperately want and need?  I wish I knew the answers to those questions but I have learned I need to exercise faith that if I’m doing all I can to solve a problem, if I continue to work and pray and try, eventually things will work out.  They always do.

It may not be in the time frame I would have chosen or even in the manner I thought would have been best, but things will work out.  For those who refuse to give up and are committed to continue to move forward in faith, in spite of not knowing all the answers, I’m convinced those answers will become clear sometime down the road.

I believe this quote from Steve Jobs really makes a lot of sense:​​

 “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”                ~ Steve Jobs

This has been a real challenge for me as it relates to properly preparing for an uncertain future.  Yes, I would love to know when things will get bad enough that we’ll need to rely on our food storage.  Yes, I would love to know what the event or events will be that will trigger this need.  And yes, I’d love to know how long we’ll need to be on our own.  I would venture to guess everyone would want to know this info.  Knowing these details could alleviate so much potential pain and suffering.  It could also help us prepare to provide for those who can’t prepare for themselves.

Unfortunately, that’s not the way things work.  There is no fortune teller who can spell out all the future details of our lives so we can be totally prepared and ready for every potential event we will encounter.  Certainly if there were, there would be no need for faith in our lives, there would be no challenges we weren’t prepared for and there certainly would be no surprises that might catch us off guard.  And as a result, there would be no personal growth that comes from moving forward with faith, not knowing the end of the story before it begins.

If your desire and goal is to provide for your family with food storage and all the non-food items that accompany being properly prepared, then move forward with faith believing things will work out.  Even if you don’t know where to start, do something – anything, especially if you feel promptings you may not be able to explain.

You may not completely understand why you feel a prompting to purchase food storage, or that coil of rope, or extra bottles of hydrogen peroxide, or a case of matches.  You may question yourself when you are led to purchase an axe, or a large tent, or extra warm clothes from the thrift store.  You may wonder why you feel a need to buy extra work gloves, or large brimmed hats, or sewing kits.  But if you do follow through and act on the promptings you receive, the time will come when you’ll be able to connect the dots and understand fully why you received those promptings.

Please don’t let the fact that you don’t have all the answers keep you from moving forward with your preps.  Just because you may not be able to see in your mind why you would ever need emergency food storage, don’t let that keep you from moving forward.  The dots will all eventually connect and our lives will be blessed if we choose to move forward with faith.