This is the motto of the Boy Scouts of America. Even if you were not in Scouts you have probably heard of this before. So how far does one need to go to be prepared? How do you know if you are prepared enough?
These questions and more have probably came up this week as Texans experienced one of the coldest weeks in history. Not to mention a substandard response to energy demands.
Several people have complained and said is the fault of elected officials, it is the fault of the energy companies, and it is the fault of the energy consortium that controls the Texas Grid.
There will be several inquiries into who is to be to blame. Let me save the time and money that is involved in all of this. The person responsible for your personal discomfort, lack of food, lack of water, lack of heat, lack of energy is the person you stare at every day in the mirror. Yes, you are the reason you had problems.
I personally had no power for three days. I thought we were prepared, but we were not prepared enough. This past week helped show me where my holes were at, we need to have a backup energy source, possibly two or three.
Thankfully we had serval battery packs to keep our phones charged and plenty of cold weather clothes to keep us warm. We had food, but we needed something to heat it up with. So, my wife and I ate a lot of peanut butter and honey sandwiches, energy bars, fruit, nuts, and anything else that did not require heating.
I am guilty of relying on our energy provider to provide us with consistent power, not any more. I am responsible to ensure we have the resources to heat food, boil water, and to keep warm.
I know it is easy to blame others. But once you give the responsibility of blame to others, you also give them control. We are in control of our own actions, or in actions.
I hope this past week becomes a wakeup call for all, because I firmly believe that events that happened this past week will be repeated in my lifetime. I am making sure that we will be ready, we will be prepared. Because if you are prepared, your stress is lower, your comfort is higher, and you have the ability to help those that have failed to prepare. So start today.
Do a self-analysis of what you failed to do. What did you miss? Did you have food? Could you cook it? Did you have water? Did you have heat? Did you have light? Did you have communications?
If you did not have something from the above list, start looking for items that you will need to back fill your supply closet. Make a budget and start to source the items that you are missing.
Don’t let a repeat of last week’s weather be a repeat in your unpreparedness.
Be prepared! Start today!