Prepping is way more than stockpiling food and water and waiting for the end of the world. Prepping is about not just surviving but thriving. Prepping is accepting you can’t afford that idyllic bug out location and making the very best of the resources you have, making the decision to bloom where you are planted. Prepping is about taking you life back and becoming more self-reliant.

There are a huge amount of people who think that peppers are nut jobs. They think we spend our time running around in the woods in camo gear living off wild mushrooms and bugs.

They seem to have the impression that we are a sad, pathetic bunch of people who are building bunkers in the garden and who live our lives in fear.

I have no doubt that a few people do live their lives like that…but it’s important to recognise that there are variations of behaviour in any and every group of people.

Prepping gives me peace of mind. It allows me to watch what’s happening in the world and know that I have, and still am taking steps to mitigate the effects that local and global events could have on my family. Prepping gives me a sense of security – but at the same time makes me think and consider my actions on a daily basis which generally assists in keeping me and mine safer than I otherwise would have been.

Peppers have a different way of looking at things, a different perspective and although you may think prepping is little more than stocking up to cover emergencies it isn’t, prepping is a lifestyle choice and it makes a difference to every facet of our lives.

As an example. two women from the same street need to go out late in the evening. One woman is a prepper the other isn’t.

Woman one is a non-prepper, she needs to go to the shop half a mile away, she will be walking, it’s cold and dark. She bundles up and sets off head down rushing along to get the task over with. Her hands are sunk deep into her pockets clutching the money for a carton of milk.

She doesn’t see the guy lurking in a small alley between two buildings.  She’s on a mission and is thinking of nothing but how cold it is and buying the milk.

She ignores the man walking towards her, coming from the direction of the shop and still has no clue the man is at the end of the alley watching her.

She gets to the shop, buys the milk and heads home.

They find her body at the end of the alley later that evening.

Woman two is making the exact same trip. She is a prepper. She is wearing gloves and has her keys in her hand, ring hooked over her finger palm around them, the longest key held firmly between her thumb and index finger.

She knows the alley exists and instinctively moves to the edge of the kerb as she approaches it and she looks directly at it as she passes. She sees the man and he knows she has seem him. She quickens her pace somewhat.

She sees the man walking towards her and smiles. “Evening” she says as they pass, stealing a glance behind her. She sees the man peering out from the alley watching her.

She buys the milk and leaves to head home. Across the road a couple are walking in the direction of her home, she crosses over and walks behind them, they head to a house almost opposite the alley. She looks over, sees the man in the shadows but he makes no move.

She arrives home safely.

Now before you start yes, I know, as a prepper she wouldn’t have run out of milk in the first place but I needed an analogy. I needed to make a point and that point is that both women had the same task to complete. They lived in the same road, were going to the same shop to buy the same item but one lived and one died and that was down to the different perspectives they held about a trip to the shops.

In short peppers are more mindful of their surrounding, more tuned in to what is normal and what is not. They are aware that the simplest thing can become a monstrous problem and they act accordingly to minimise issues.

This applies to every facet of our lives and half the time we have no idea that we are doing it because it has become a way of life, a lifestyle choice that we have made.

Far from being a sad, fearful pessimists peppers tend to be the polar opposite. We are a resourceful, mindful bunch who are able to think laterally and adapt on the fly.

We are awake and aware and that works well in our everyday lives because rather than suddenly having to confront the reality of a situation our conscious or even subconscious has already considered the possibilities and steps we can take to overcome the issue.

This was a very simple analogy but it highlights the prepper mindset, the awareness we have regarding seemingly run-of-the-mill situations.

We all have our stories, the event that made us start prepping in the first place and for many of us, me included, it was a personal event that made us stop and think “No, never again will I be in this situation”. How we arrived where we are is important, we should never forget why we started our personal preparedness journey.

Many of us started for personal reasons but  as we read and learned from others we morphed into the people we are today. Awareness of  and dealing with our own situation opened the door to becoming aware of threats outside of our personal bubble.

I’ll end this where I started it:

Prepping is way more than stockpiling food and water and waiting for the end of the world. Prepping is about not just surviving but thriving. Prepping is accepting you can’t afford that idyllic bug out location and making the very best of the resources you have, making the decision to bloom where you are planted. Prepping is about taking your life back and becoming more self-reliant.

Here are a few articles that may make your journey a little easier:

Cleaning necrotic wounds

Anaesthetics after a collapse: Ketamine

When terrorism comes to town

EMP: The ultimate terrorist attack

On the preparedness map all roads lead to a town called Grid Down

28 prepper uses for mylar blankets

Coping with extreme weather if you’re stranded outside

Things to do BEFORE winter arrives

18 prepper uses for wood ash

16 prepper uses for candle wax

Let there be light: Bean can candles

Starting your preparedness journey

New preppers guide to winter vehicle preparedness

Our unhealthy love affair with electricity: A few hints and tips for new preppers.

Take care

Liz