When Life and Preparedness Don’t Mix

Life right now is BUSY!!

I’ve mentioned recently that I’ve been walking two miles a day.  Besides the time to actually walk, it takes time to get changed and ready.  It takes time to get cleaned up afterwards – especially since I’ve been mostly walking outside in the mornings or evenings.

My blog – even when I’m only doing one or two posts a week takes more hours than you probably realize.  Each post usually takes 4-5 hours.  Finding pictures for the posts, making up a graphic for the main picture, scheduling posts to go out on my e-mail provider, setting them up to go out to Facebook and Pinterest.

Working on my class.  There’s homework for my class.  I have to work through modules, keeping up with everything.  I’m revamping my workbook and getting ready to relaunch it.

I do yoga once a week with an instructor in my home.  After we finish up that, we work through nutrition and healthy lifestyle changes.

But Wait.  There’s more!

Vacation is coming up and you know how that goes.  Taking stock of what everyone has and needs.  Making sure gaps in clothing needs are filled before going.  Get everything organized and packed.  Check over what the kids pack for themselves.  Get the food together.  Then get everything packed into the van.

Each day has something on my calendar that I have to do, whether it’s we’re having someone over (which we do enjoy) or running a child to one place or another.  Getting adjusted at the chiropractor.  Running various errands that need done.  Life is just NOT slowing down!

Are you nodding your head?  You know what it’s like, don’tcha?  Your life is so busy too, huh?  Does it feel like you don’t have much time to think about life let alone preparedness?  I blog about it, and I don’t feel like I’ve had much time to think about it, plan for it, or put any of it into practice.

So when we hit times like this, what should we do?

Take a step back, and take a deep breath.

Now, take another breath.

Yep, and another breath.

Sometimes preparedness is simply getting through the day that you’re in right now.  Sometimes it’s simply getting through the week or month or year that you’re in.  But in the midst of all of this, there are little things that we HAVE to do – like grocery shopping – that still allow us to fit preparedness in – in little ways.

• Picking up two extra flats of veggies or other canned goods takes less than 30 extra seconds of time.
• Parking further from the store, so that you can get more steps in since you can’t fit in exercise that day.
• Buying strawberries to make jam this year instead of growing them yourself.
• Taking a camping vacation this year, so your family can practice survival skills in a fun environment.
• Making up two of the same casseroles at once and freezing one.

But what about the bigger things?  Gather your mental faculties and start prioritizing again.

Write out a list of everything that is sitting so heavy on your shoulders.  Then go through the list and mark them accordingly.  What MUST get done?  What SHOULD get done and what would I LIKE to get done?  Are there things that I can let go? Is there something SOMEONE ELSE can do?  Can I PAY SOMEONE else to do something?

How Do I Preparedness When Life Is so Busy I Can’t Breathe?

Let it go for the moment.  I’m serious.  Let preparing go for the moment.  If something big happens tomorrow, make sure you have enough money to make an emergency trip to Costco in short order, but don’t stress.   It’s only going to make things worse.

Then as life slows down, if you’re like me, you have plenty of prepper projects in the works that you’ve bought stuff for that you haven’t done or used yet.  Start there, just one thing at a time.  Learn, read, and enjoy the journey.  Preparedness isn’t about stressing.  It’s about relieving stress.  It’s about making life tomorrow a little easier.

Or if you’re afraid that you’ll never start your prepping back up, set a date and put it on the calendar.  Mark the date on the calendar with “Start Prepping again.”

I’m Frazzled!

I can bet that some of my readers out there feel just as overwhelmed with life as I do right now.   Let’s take a deep breath together.  Do you need to take that breath too?  Will you join me?  I need to remember to live life where I am now, not where I wish it would be.

What About You?

How is life going for you right now?  How are you doing?  REALLY doing?  No sugar coating the answer; no fluff.  I don’t want to hear, “I’m okay,” when you really aren’t.  How are you doing?  I really would love to hear.  I’ll know how to pray for you specifically.

Together let’s Love, Learn, Practice, and Overcome

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The original version of this post was posted on June 9th 2018.  This version has been updated.