Thank you all for the kind words.

Goal of this thread is to emphasize the importance of psychological preparedness as much as material preparedness.



_________________________

Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.
- John Quincy Adams
_________________________

Exactly !!

Psychological preparedness sounds good but I have become very skeptical about the ability of anyone to change their psychology. There may be some option for change if you are willing to undergo intensive and protracted counseling, and possibly psychotherapy, but I've never seen anything but very superficial change when it is undertaken alone.

More than once I've seen people, almost always males, who use some combination of mental imagery and manufactured exercises to 'practice' mental toughness and resiliency. It seldom seems to work. I'm thinking about starting a thread exploring the issue.

I would have to agree to some extent with Art_in_FL. But I would say it's a combination of natural physical/mental toughness, and also a form of 'practice'--really just plain being forced to cope with a relentless change for the worse in reality. I have experience with a large number of people inflicted with one of the most horrific diseases known to humankind. For many, it progressively takes away their mobility and every sensory system they have, while causing untold physical and mental pain in the process. To me, it's unbelievable how many of them continue on. Even though I have faced very serious threats to my own personal survival, I often think to myself when working with one of these folks, "Holy MOG, I would've given up long ago."

Most are, by far, just normal folks who unfortunately fell victim to this condition. I would say that most just have the normal human drive to survive, but I would truly say that their unfortunate circumstance often has crystallized and intensified this drive to superhuman levels. To me, these folks are the REAL Superheroes of the Universe.

I have found there is a role for creative impatience.

( I'm thinking about starting a thread exploring the issue.)

Art , I will be "impatiently" waiting for that thread.

One request there, please.
English is not my mother tongue. So, in that psychological/philospophical thread, please go easy on those complex expressions and deep meanings. Assume that there is a 10 years old boy among the audience. OK ?? thanks


Back to the subject.
What I have learnt from this 2-week experience is that: smaller crises are in fact "good" to boost our preparedness immune system. They test our strong points and expose our weak points.

In fact, it was "good" even in social/family terms since it brought me and the wife closer. She saw how much I would scrifice for her and her family and I noticed how close and appreciative she has become towards me. This is something good in case of SHTF where many relations suffer and may break under stress.