Second on the main list for getting prepared to be prepared was “Self”.  This I Broke down into

1. Self-Reflection / Mental Preparedness
2. Health
3. Fitness
4. Debt Freedom / Frugality
5. Cultivating a Community
6. Skills / Training

1. Self-Reflection / Mental Preparedness

For me this is getting my head on straight.  Am I approaching this journey in a logical, non-hysterical, non-tinfoil hat kinda way?  Am I going to be able to remain calm and implement my plans, especially if the S does HTF? Can I control my anxieties and actually take things step by step and not get overwhelmed at the magnitude of everything there is to do?

2 Health

I’m overweight.  I have high blood sugar.  I am on various medications.  And I don’t sleep.

None of these things are ideal in a “perfect” world, much less one where I have to work a lot harder to make sure my family has a fairly “normal” life.

3. Fitness

While tied to health, it isn’t entirely the same thing.  I need to get myself in enough shape to handle the chores and responsibilities of life in post-emergency world, no matter how short or long it might be.  If I needed to leave my home on foot, could I make it to a place I consider safe?

4. Debt Freedom / Frugality

I mentioned in a previous post that I thought some of my concerns may be coming from the fact that I feel the least financially stable that I have in a long time.  I’m carrying too much credit card debt and struggling to stick to my budget given some additional expenses.  There are a lot of things that I can do to alleviate some of this.  Pantry organization and meal planning will help here as well as being smart and making space for more storage.

5. Cultivating a Community

My family isn’t very supportive.  They are being a bit tolerant, but I know they think I am crazy, and are humoring me as long as what I am doing to prepare doesn’t cause them inconvenience or cost my family money.  Mom is helping with some organization.  She’s being a good resource for getting my raised beds ready for some garden experiments next Spring.  But she also has mentioned maybe I need an appointment with a therapist.  So.

It would be good to have other people to talk about preparedness and homesteading.  Folks that can help me find resources to prepare, who can teach me skills, or at least help me find where I can learn those skills.  I’ve looked into forums and meetups for like-minded individuals in my area.  Nothing very active, but I’ve put a few postings out there.  There is some kind of preparedness expo in this area soon.  As much as I don’t like to put myself out there like that — I think I will.  If I can swing it, I’d like to take an herbal remedy and salve making class from Nicole (from the second season of Alone, if you’ve seen that) and perhaps make a connection there.  I’ve looked into CERT training.

6. Skills / Training

Some of that above meets these needs too.  I can potentially meet people that make up the preparedness / homesteading community in the area, but also learn some good skills.  I’m also planning on some gardening next spring.  I have 3 raised beds, maybe 75 square feet? all told.  It’s not enough to feed my family exclusively by any means, but I think I can do enough to learn HOW to garden.  Maybe grow enough to do some canning.  I plan to learn vermiculture to support the garden, and done a bit of research in how to build a worm farm.  I’ve also picked up some supplies to practice sprouting and growing microgreens (that’s a whole post alone!).  There’s a LOT more skills out there, but these are the ones I am adding to my plate right now.