Yesterday we talked about how much I love September! There are so many fun things that happen in September – I love football, changing leaves, so many things about September rank among my favorites. There is also something about September that strikes a chord with me; it is something I am really pretty passionate about. September is National Preparedness Month. I love to talk/think/do things about preparedness. I am not one of those nutty people who is preparing for the end of the world or the zombie apocalypse. I am someone who knows that being prepared is important so I really like National Preparedness Month. There is so much to talk about because there are so many ways to be prepared. Being prepared means different things to different people. I think some of these differences are what makes it fun to talk about. National Preparedness Month brings up topics like food storage, 72 hour kits, and having some emergency cash. It also brings up lots of other smaller topics too. Those smaller topics that surface during National Preparedness Month are what I like to talk about. Like anything else, if we break National Preparedness Month up into smaller topics we tend to be able to process it better and avoid being overwhelmed by preparedness.

When talking about things like National Preparedness Month, I think it is really easy to become overwhelmed by preparedness. There are so many topics and so many things to do. You can listen to lectures and read articles and find dozens of ways you are not prepared. It is really easy to look at the big picture of being prepared and begin to feel panic set in, which is not good at all. I think the very first step to being prepared is to avoid being overwhelmed by preparedness. I know some of you out there are nodding your heads in agreement. You are thinking that you are right there, right now. Maybe you have some supplies but not others. Maybe you have most of your emergency preparedness completed but it is very outdated. Maybe you haven’t got more than a flashlight and you feel completely unprepared. Now is the time to stop being overwhelmed by preparedness and to get organized and make a plan.

Making a plan will rid you of the feeling of being overwhelmed by preparedness and it is not hard to do at all. The very first thing you need to do is get a binder or a notebook with a pocket. Once you have this binder, label it and dedicate it to emergency preparedness. Find a place to keep it that is handy and easy to access when you have a note to write or a plan to make. Put the binder in that place. There you have it! You’ve taken the first step to being prepared and avoiding being overwhelmed by preparedness.

Tomorrow we will talk about the ways we can organize the binder to help you feel even less overwhelmed by preparedness. It’s going to be fun and easy. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog.