I admit it, many things scare me, and I to an extent sometimes catch my fears dictating the course of my life…
Most people don’t want to admit their fears, but I think it’s important that we recognize them as part of what drives us. It’s not “manly” to talk about what you fear, but “manly” is just BS. The important part of dealing with fear isn’t that we have it, but rather that we turn it into a positive, to drive us to address the problems we are afraid of or to learn enough about them to understand that our fears can be dealt with in a positive way.
The thought of a complete social collapse in a grid-down situation scares the living tar out of me.
To me, the nightmare I have is to be caught in a city when the curtain drops… having millions of others around me starting to realize that the grocery store isn’t going to be getting any more food, that the water system & sewer systems are now not working, and that the government isn’t coming… being there when people start of figure that out and go absolutely nuts… that (literally) has lead to many sleepless nights as it runs through my mind.
I deal with these fears by keeping me and mine (my wife) out of situations where they are most likely to come true.
I don’t know how you city folks can live where you do, I will be honest. This isn’t in any way an insult or a criticism, I just really don’t understand how you can think about that situation and continue to live in the city or the burbs. I couldn’t do it.
Living out here in the country (my BIL is in a tiny town of less than 2,000 people and my BOL is, frankly, in the middle of God’s green acres) my biggest concern is an irrational fear of raiders… after those who end up killing nearly everybody who survives the first couple of months in the city fan out, then we have to deal with them. Fortunately (and no, it’s not by accident) I don’t live within 200 miles of any major city, so my little small town is a LONG way from first on the list.
I’m to the point that I can barely make myself drive into the city on business, and I for darned sure carry a bicycle and a GHB to get me home… if I gotta ride 200 miles on the bike, so be it. I can do that in 3-4 days.
What you see here at 3BY is one of the ways we deal with our fears: We meet them head on, we analyze them, we figure out a plan, we share what we have learned to help others in their journey, and we press on to the next.
Obviously, cities are not an “instant death trap” and I know a lot of you people who live in the city or the burbs have a perfectly good, rational plan to either shelter in place or bug-out. I get that; you deal with it in a perfectly logical way. You don’t let your fears dissuade you from the life you want to lead, and that’s great.
I take a different approach, and that’s fine too.
The key is that we listen to what our fears are saying, and then instead of just giving up and pretending “nothing bad will ever happen” we step up and do what we need to do to protect ourselves.
“Thought must be the harder, heart be the keener, mind must be the greater, while our strength lessens”. Battle of Maldon
As your urban/suburban contributor I also have fears. They just aren’t the same fears as yours. I also have complete confidence that Murphy has a sense of humor, and will hit me with something I was not afraid of, simply because I never thought of it. 🙂
God has a plan for my life and I trust in Him, even though I have to be an urban prepper.
I agree Im safer and blessed to live rurally yet I also truly believe that there is commonly fear where there is lack of knowledge and understanding, I am also very much aware that life requres action and a decent amount of faith as I dont think its ever been effective for myself to allow fear to be the only factor driving my decisions either, Most emotionally charged unrealistic fear based decisions can be avoided if there is just a little time in which you can think through and then make the wiser decision given youve had a little time to think about it. I realize some situations we must make choices quickly but preparedness definitely takes time.