Pride goeth before the fall

Proverbs 16:18 King James Version (KJV) ¹⁸ Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

But what does it mean?  

In my humble opinion it's important for us to teach and learn, but when folks get self righteous, and over confident it is my humble opinion you're asking for trouble.  It's all too easy to become over confident in THINGS, the groovy gear know what I mean?  I get asked what I think about terms like survivalist, prepper etc...  putting labels on yourself (or others) is a very slippery slope because at the end of the day we are more than a label  We are flesh, blood, and spirit.  We have responsibilities to our families, especially our children.  It doesn't matter if there is a storm, one of us gets sick or laid off or whatever, our children will still look to us to feed them, love them, and provide for them. Children will expect us to keep them dry, warm and safe....  The next time someone asks you what you are, stop and consider your response carefully.  Is the label you seek really that important? I'm many things including a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, mentor. I'm a woman God put on this Earth and I'm doing the best I can with the skills and abilities I have. I also am, a prepper's wife.

Prepper Fatigue

Many Preppers go through "Prepper Fatigue" at some point.   What is it? Well similar to battle fatigue it is  characterized by anxiety, depression, and loss of motivation, caused by the ongoing stress of active prepping. 

We all go through cycles in our prepping. Once you've been a prepper long enough, you will experience it.  At first you may feel guilty for wanting to back off from prepping in order to catch your breath, however it is actually wise to step back and assess where you are with your preps and take a deep breath. Take an inventory.  What new skills have you learned?  What do your durable preps look like? How many days/weeks/months of food storage do you have? is it lopsided (lots of a single item?)  Just slow down - take a deep breath, relish what you've learned and stored and take a moment for a really deep EXHALE.   Breathe in deep and exhale again. Look at how far along you are everything you've learned, how much more prepared you are now than you were before you started.

Wanna know a secret? Even I have had a 'bout of Prepper Fatigue.  (BTW So has my husband and I consider him the super duper prepper.)  It's normal.  Sometimes we just need to be reminded to live and enjoy today.  Be here, now. Yes something is on the horizon, but when whatever it is happens, we're in it together and we have a leg up on the sheeple...

If you feel like you've hit the wall emotionally, remember to live and laugh and have some fun.  Some of us are wound a little too tight on getting it all together and waiting for the other shoe to drop. Here's the real secret, it's okay to be happy and enjoy today.  You can be a happy prepper because in reality prepping isn't something we do, it's a way of living. 

Take a deep breath, EXHALE
Enjoy a beautiful day
Go for a walk
Smile at your kids
Laugh

oh yeah and rotate your food storage!  

Prep your own notebook:

Are you "all set" well good for you!  Light a cigar sit on the porch and speculate about the rest of us working hard to build our family inventories up :)  These are some things you need to be working on/reviewing:

We have a Survival 101 Handbook DO you have one? You do? Great! Oh you don't?  Well I could share my table of contents with you... Oh ok since you don't have one you can peek at our personal table of contents:

1.  Water List ~ How much, Where its stored, Where to find it if we need to search out more

2.  Food Storage List ~ Shelf life list, On hand inventory, list of what we'd still like to get

3.  Food Preparation List What can we make with what we have?

4.  Family members personal lists for each with current physical, current prescriptions, latests test results, and what each member's special needs are.We have a quick reference with everyone's daily schedules but then we have a "Book of Life" that has Birth Certificates, Vaccinations, Social Security cards etc for each person.

5.  Chem~Nuke Defenses what preps do we have that cover this what we still need

6.  Biological Warfare~Pandemic Defenses  what preps do we have that cover this what we still need

7.  Gardening List seeds and tools on hand, germination tests, garden maps, how to save seeds from our own grown veggies and fruits, details on each fruit and veggie in our garden as well as future plants we'll grow.

8.  Hygiene~Sanitation List  what preps do we have that cover this what we still need

9.  Hunting~Fishing~Trapping Lists what preps do we have that cover this what we still need

10. Power~Lighting~Alt Power~ Battery lists  what preps do we have that cover this what we still need

11. Fuels  what preps do we have that cover this what we still need

12. Firefighting  what preps do we have that cover this what we still need

13. Tactical Living  what preps do we have that cover this what we still need

14. Security ~ General  what preps do we have that cover this what we still need

15. Security~ Firearms  what preps do we have that cover this what we still need

16. Communications & Monitoring  How will we reach each other if need be and what preps do we have that cover this what we still need

17. Tools  what preps do we have that cover this what we still need

18  Sundries  what preps do we have that cover this what we still need

19. Survival Bookshelf  What books do we have in our library that cover this subject?

20. Barter & Charity Inventory  what preps do we have that cover this what we still need

21. First Aid Complement  what preps do we have that cover this, where are the kits and extra supplies kept along with a list ofwhat we still need

22. Little Livestock List  what preps do we have that cover this what we still need (We currently have chickens)

23. Maps ~ of your house, yard, neighborhood, area of town, entire town.  Maps to "Bug Out" location with more than one route marked.  I would mark areas that could help find supplies in the event of a total collapse.  Know your area, mark friends and potential foes, assets etc.

All this should be in one binder.  Don't have this all in one place yet?  Might I suggest you get it all together before you forget where you've put it :)