What I wish I had done differently

[Edgemont]

http://thesurvivalmom.com/2012/06/02/what-i-wish-i-had-done-differently/

I appreciate this list of things the "survival mom" wishes she had done differently. I got me thinking about my journey and what I wish I had done differently. Numbers 3 and 4 are of particular interest to me right now. Any thoughts?

[Bearman202]

Yup, same here. It's NOT a comfortable feeling when your idiot brother tells a group of people in a restaurant that "He's got a lot of guns and ammo, like he's ready for the invasion!" I carefully explained to him that he's making me a huge target, and not just after the meltdown! I think I finally got through to him. In his case, his wife won't allow him to have a gun in the house. He lives in an area that's going to be the black spot on the bullseye if things go south. He keeps saying that if the wheels come off, he's coming to my place. I keep telling him that he can if wants to, but I probably won't be here.... I'm not in a great place either, but I've got two better places staked out. They know I'm coming, and would welcome the additional help.

[monkeybird]

I love that list. Especially number one. I read Survival Blog every day. There is often great information for anyone desiring to learn - and it's FREE. However, having once been seared from saying that Rawles is not for the beginning prepper, I'll not say it again. (lol) After reading Patriots, (the first one) I was overwhelmed. Literally. How in world does a late middle suburban, southern woman, married to an engineer who spends his time in an office, do the things discussed in the book. I remember reading about the steel window shutters and knew I was way way over my head!

I did use YouTube to learn the absolute basics. I had the good sense to know that I needed to pay attention to the basics, water, food, shelter and protection and began accordingly. It's easy to get caught up in the nice to have but won't keep you alive preps. I read about people storing 100 cases of toilet paper, but decided water and food was first. TP could wait, it won't keep me alive.

The most important thing I learned was to test your preps by trying them out. Discovering you missing an essential part to some equipment you need during a disaster, can be life threatening.

[WiseOwl]

I wish as a 24 year old I didnt have the bright idea to buy a home, let alone one with an ARM. No one helped or guided me. Yep, I was one of the problem folks. No credit, no money down. Learned my lesson.

[slingshot]

I wish I hadn't bought so much land when I first retired. Then I could take care of it, but 13 years later I see it going backwards in upkeep. I'm thinking about selling off most of it and only keeping about 40 acres the house, barn, shop, and garden sits on. That way I can take care of it for a while longer. Thinking about switching from cattle to goats for animals on the place. But, I sure hate to give up all that convenient good hunting & fishing. Game animals and fishing ponds are nothing but self-perpetuating "preps!"

[SCinPNW]

Great list, thanks for posting Edgemont!

I have gone from trying to purchase everything I thought we needed, with lots of food items that have been tossed or given away, to working on skills and a more sustainable lifestyle along with long term food storage. My dream is that we can some day, hopefully before everything falls apart, move out of our neighborhood into a place with a little more acreage for gardening, fruit trees, small animals, etc. but for now I have to do what I can with what I have.

The one thing I am working hard at right now is my gardening and trying/learning how to grow food in our climate. Since our climate is mostly mild I also want to learn how to garden in the winter so I am doing lots of reading and then trying to put things into practice. If all goes well and I can actually get my tomatoes to continue growing, fruit, and ripen; then I am hoping to do some canning of said tomatoes. LOL, if I can grow tomatoes in our current weather it will be a major gardening triumph as we have had a very wet and cool June. Time will tell.

To me preparedness is a journey that takes time. Once you have made the decision that a preparedness lifestyle is what you want you grow as you learn, assuming you continue to learn and practice what you learn. I have definitely wasted a tremendous amount of time in front of the computer reading and researching and feeling overwehelmed. Baby steps is what works for me. Review my situation, think about what I CAN do that fits our situation and go from there. For me, the best lessons I have learned are from trial and error. Learning from my mistakes has helped me learn a lot.

SC

[jimmycthemd]

I guess the biggest thing I've learned is that I've wasted decades and should've started earlier. Other than that, I was completely overwhelmed when I started reading and trying to decide where to start. Then I looked at where I was and what I COULD do within budget and time constraints. The BIGGEST breakthrough was probably that it wasn't where I started but THAT I started. After realizing that, I found that food LTS of basic grains was the easiest place to start so, I read on that one subject until I was comfortable starting and just did it. I then looked at other areas that I could at least make incremental progress on and started adding them.

Lessons learned? START. Keep going and expanding your knowledge and activities as you go. Find your learning pace and keep at it.

[Grand58742]

What have I learned?

I should have recognized the signs early on else I might not have been an alcoholic in my youth. Money saved, career would have been on a different path, healthier, etc.

While I still have the occasional adult beverage or two (never more than two), I'm past that part of my life. Not necessarily preparedness related, but at the same time it is.

[jimmycthemd]

What have I learned?

I should have recognized the signs early on else I might not have been an alcoholic in my youth. Money saved, career would have been on a different path, healthier, etc.

While I still have the occasional adult beverage or two (never more than two), I'm past that part of my life. Not necessarily preparedness related, but at the same time it is.

Guess I can say a 'me too' on that one. I'd say borderline alcoholic and a misspent youth. Youth is wasted on (some of) the young :-)