Regaining focus

[IronShepherd]

Does anybody else ever lose focus on being prepared? By this I mean you just don't feel as committed to being prepared. What are some things that make you become focused again? Is it listening to the news on T.V.? Does it just come back?

[wildcat]

LOL! Yeah, I lose focus. not too often these days tho'. Consider this, my friend: Nothing external will keep you focused as will the fire within you. If you are feeling a certain way, there is a reason for it. What is that reason?

If you lose that focus from time to time,it could be because you feel somehow prepared, or you are rationalizing that you are prepared. It's really tough to be "switched on" 24 - 7, but it seems to be what we strive for.

With all that said, It's really easy to put our head in a hole.

Guess we need to know what we are doing, so we can help ourselves...

[IronShepherd]

I'm guilty of telling myself sometimes that I am fully prepared but I always pop back to reality and realize how wrong I am.
I always want to continue to prepared mentally but it's like I meet a stone wall sometimes. Thankfully a way around has always presented itself to me.

[Bearman202]

I have a few things, but I'm in a horrible location and although I do have a couple of places I can go if it gets really bad, I know that I can't take it with me. I thought of pre-positioning, but that's not working, mainly because I'm not certain which location I'm going to end up at when I go. I get disheartened, almost give it up completely, then I see something and find myself buying it. Sigh. At the base of it all, I want to survive whatever happens. I'm going with my subconscious on this one. I keep prepping, although I will admit that I'm not as adamant as I was. Then again, I already have enough stuff to keep me going for a while, so maybe it's time to relax a little?

[claymore]

Think everyone looses momentum every now and then. I just retired a few months back so money is tight (wife lets me do pretty much whatever,but I think theres a lot of eye rolls and eyebrow raising). Like Bearman we've got enough to get by on for quite a while if need be. Everyone needs water and food, thats a given but prepping (having on hand extra) is whatever you need from day to day. Shift gears and go in another direction if you get bogged down. I'm always preaching to the choir, sorry.

[monkeybird]

Very few of us are fully engaged 100% of the time. My commitment fluctuates depending on what demands I have to deal with in my personal life, and what's going on in the world. I continue to put 'extra' food in my cart, save empty jugs for water, etc. without thinking about it. It's become a habit. I purchased a lot of long term storage food, ammunition, and other survival stuff while my husband was still working. Now I have to budget what I buy and it makes it harder.

I know I can't be a Lowdown or a Protus. My situation is totally different. Each of us have to deal with the circumstances we've been given the best way we can. Your situation shouldn't be an excuse for not prepping, but it does dictate your plan and the way you prep.

Yeah, I get distracted from time to time. But somehow I always come back to the need to assess my situation and prep accordingly.

[WiseOwl]

I loose a lil momentum when I have no funds , which has been the story lately...but, if I cant buy food for LTS, or can goods, or bottled water, I try and make it a point to read another manual or check my gear or just plain do a mental rundown........the only time I dont think about preparing or what could happen is either when I am sleeping or watching a movie. Sometimes my wife tells me to chill but thats just how my mind works. Over the last couple of years I have become a lil "weird", for instance like when we pull into the driveway at night, I angle the car so I can see if anyone is hiding in the bushes to the right and on the side of the house to the left....I shut the garage door before we get out....and if we are out, I always look for someone that is out of place or looking like they could be a "prospect for punishment".......sometimes I am a bit paranoid but I try to be prepared for anything and everything......except aliens or the blob.

[610Alpha]

who doesn't lose momentum? Sometimes the fire burns a little low it just takes another log to bring the fire up :) Just pick yourself up and keep moving!! Maybe create a rotating schedule of reading on specific topics every month or checking your equipment or taking inventory of your stockpile...some suggestions

[Matt In Oklahoma]

We all do, sometimes it takes an "event" to kick start us like a hurricane, earthquake, meltdown of a nuke reactor, loss of something to make us remember the focus. Complacency is the main killer in prepardness, combat or other dangerous jobs and it cost lives or livelyhood when it happens. It's a fine line between burnout and complacency to find focus

[610Alpha]

+10 Matt In Oklahoma

[brokedownbiker]

Well said, Matt.

I imagine that all of us get overwhelmed at times or have to focus our attention on other parts of our lives, that's normal. I find that a period of relative calm in the news can lull me into a 'I've got time, everything is fine right now' state of mind. Then something like the tornadoes in the Midwest or the hurricane on the East coast snap me right back into focus. It doesn't make me panic or anything, I just regain my perspective and remember that I do not ever want to be one of those people living in shelters with nothing left to my name but the clothes on my back, waiting for the government to show up.

So my prepping continues......