In our world today, it doesn’t take much to imagine a picture of doom and gloom. We appear to be heralded by myriads of dark, tragic, and unfortunate events. This is especially true when you live in a disaster-prone environment, and you have to listen to similar occurrences from all over the world.
However, worrying has never helped anyone, much less in a shit hit the fan (SHTF) scenario. If you find yourself in this hamster wheel of depressing thoughts, then this article is for you. Our focus is to help you avoid doom and gloom by prepping you to see life differently.
Don't Dwell on the Doom and Gloom of it All
Your thoughts are crucial in shaping your own reality; what you see, hear, and ultimately dwell on forms a trend of thoughts. In a matter of time, these thoughts will begin to seek expression, and these thought patterns will not stop until they are expressed.
Therefore, when you wake up in the morning, seek the right materials to channel your thoughts in a positive direction. Watching the news or looking at a tragic/scary video of survivalists from a disaster may not be a great way to kickstart your day. While preppers need to be aware of what’s going on around them and hearing stories of survival may help us prepare, it is not recommended to start your day with negative events.
We always advocate for preparedness. So, you have to do your best to be prepared for both the natural disasters, man-made disasters, and other unexpected emergencies that your environment is susceptible to. Knowing you have some basics like working smoke/CO2 detectors, fire extinguishers, flashlights, and a generator can go a long way to giving you peace of mind. However, you cannot allow constant worrying to rob you of your peace and usher in depression.
Rather than worry, you should feel relieved by your level of awareness and preparedness. No one can prepare for all possible scenarios, but if you have been living the prepper life than, chances are, you are more prepared than most of the population. In our opinion, that calls for celebration rather than the sense of doom and gloom.
While disaster is always a possibility, focusing on it leaves no room to enjoy those precious moments with family and loved ones. There’s definitely more to life than preparing or worrying over a disaster that may never happen.
4 Ways to Stay Positive in an Uncertain World
Staying positive in our world today may seem like a difficult feat, however, it is possible, and here are four simple ways to help you remain positive in current times.
~1. Stay Away from Bad News and Negative Articles
~Listening to the news is essential and helps you stay attuned with the happenings around you. However, listening to bad news and reading negative articles are top on the list of making people depressed.
~We already know we live in uncertain times, and bad news seems to always find its way into our lives on a daily bases. Why compound this by constantly consuming negative articles, news, and stories?
~Horrific news spreads faster than wildfire, and the news outlets don’t always help, making us feel like things are all doom and gloom all the time. This causes people to live in fear, not knowing what may be around the corner. Consuming constant disaster new or stories only increases your anxiety levels if left unchecked.
~You have to deliberately maintain an environment free of fear, hate, unnerving uncertainties, and lies. This decision does not mean you should throw caution to the wind as you live your life; no, not at all. As much as you should be cautious and properly prepared; it should not come from a place of fear or consume ever moment.
~Constantly feeding yourself with bad news from your tv or reading all the wrong and negative articles on your Facebook feed can severely mess with your happiness. The first approach to living a healthy life, both physically, mentally, and emotionally involves pruning what you hear, see, and read.
~2. Focus on Who You Are Protecting
~We do things for various reasons, but in most cases the things we do are prompted by love and our natural survival instincts. This instinct may move you to prepping to survive natural disasters or a breakdown of law and order. Or, in the case of a family person, this instinct may move you to making the necessary preparations for your family and loved ones. Start with a fire evacuation plan, including a fire escape ladder, and a first aid kit.
~Whatever the goal is, it’s essential that you don’t lose sight of who you are protecting and preparing for. Focusing on the subject of your preparations will help you adopt personalized strategies tailored to you and your family.
~3. Dive into Your Preps
~Prepping is your best chance at surviving a natural disaster or a shit-hit-the-fan scenario. It ensures that you are prepared for a variety of events.
~You will become more confident of surviving an event when you have taken the time to plan for it. This confidence helps you stay calm in serious situations. Prepping usually includes learning some basic self-defense skills, survival knowledge, and piling up essential supplies like meals-ready-to-eat (MRE's), water, tarps, a trusty knife, and other survival tools.
~As you dive into your preps, don’t forget that the goal is prepping without fear and anxiety. Do not let yourself get overwhelmed by the tiny details that are missing, but revel in the fact that you are more likely to survive an impending disaster than most anyone else.
~4. Stay Active and Exercise
~Staying active and exercising is a good way of releasing tension and getting you in the right frame of mind to face a new day. People who exercise regularly are healthier both mentally and physically than those who do not.
~Exercise releases endorphins which in addition to reducing your perception of pain, triggers a positive feeling, keeping you in a positive mood. It gives you that extra boost you need for your day. Instead of curling up in a ball and scrolling mindlessly through the internet; take a walk, go for a run, shoot some hoops, or get a pickup game going. Elastic exercise bands and small dumb bells can be utilized in your downtime or when waiting to pick up kids from school or while waiting for your water to boil.
~Exercising regularly will help you see the world differently and from a much more positive perspective than when you stay docile and attached to a screen, be it the TV, phone, or computer.
Maintain a Healthy Mind
The most crucial element necessary for surviving SHTF situations is a cool and level head. Hence, you can’t afford to worry yourself sick, sabotaging your most important weapon—your mind. The need to maintain a healthy mind cannot be overemphasized. Your mind is the seat of your reasoning and will, controlling your actions.
Like a muscle, your mind can be trained and built. And like a computer, you can program your mind to see the right things, process the right thoughts, and send signals to your body to follow suit.
What our minds dwell on creates our reality or becomes the strongest thing we see. For example, if you focus on a particular car because you love it and want to have it, in a matter of time, you will begin to see that car everywhere you go. The car will suddenly stand out amongst all other cars, and you will realize the opportunities available to you that can help you raise funds to buy it, and then you make the purchase. From a simple thought that came to your mind, it became a reality.
In this same light, this is what focusing on either bad news or good news can do to your mind and life. It can change your present reality into something else if you let it stew in your mind, long enough.
