Two simple words.

Easily said, easily forgotten.

Perhaps these words bring back memories of your childhood? Maybe the Boy Scouts? Maybe your father, uncle, or someone who took you under wing? Whatever memories this simple combination of words brings back to you, I hope that their weight comes to mind as well. In this modern era of ever changing political and socioeconomical climates, an ounce of preparation may very well be worth a pound of cure. Because when the unexpected happens – whether that be a job loss, a failed shell, a terrorist attack, or a simple power outage – being ready can be the difference between life and death.

So what do the Boy Scouts, your old man, and your mentor mean when they tell you to “Be Prepared”, exactly? Well, let’s look at the phrase itself and see what we can find out, eh?

The Dictionary (or, the Dictionary of Google, in this case) states that the word “Be” is used to “describe existence, identity, and a state of being”. So, to “be” is both a physical and mental state. This is an important fact. To be prepared physically is to have your body, home, and gear ready for whatever may come, whilst being mentally prepared means that you have not only a plan for when some sort of situation arises, but that you are resolved to handle it.

Preparedness, by definition, is “A state of readiness, especially for war”.

Putting the two words together, and allow me some creative license with this, we can essentially say that the Boy Scouts, good old Dad, and that guy that showed you the ropes were all telling you to stay alert and ready.

So, how do we do that? How do we remain both alert and ready?

To begin, let’s start with the state of “being ready”. When the everyday Joe thinks of the word “readiness” in regards to a survival scenario, their mind probably wanders off to a remote cabin far away from society, surrounded by woods for miles. There’s probably chickens (there’s always chickens), a basement chock full of canned food, and one hell of an armory. You did you homework, spent the money, and built yourself a nice homestead that’s off grid and relatively self sustaining. While having the means to feed and defend your family are vital, without the right mental preparation, your well stocked prepper paradise will end up being nothing more than a real world loot level when the raging masses come knocking. Unless your attention and thought processes are up to snuff with your gear, your chances of living out whatever situation you originally bugged out for will grow more and more slim as time goes on.

Over the next few posts, I’ll be doing a deep dive into both the physical and mental aspects of preparedness, and what we can do to ensure that we can be truly ready for whatever comes our way.

Talk to you soon,

-Disciple