Tam (aka ‘Our Lady Of Snark’), has a post about how the Current Situation has us swimming in stress hormones and that regardless of whether the stress is from being chased by a lion or having to queue for TP at CostCo, the physiological and mental results are the same.
No doubt, there are stressors aplenty in the wind these days. How do you avoid stress? Remove (or mitigate) the situation that you are stressing over. Do I stress about getting eaten by a T. Rex? No, because there ain’t no T. Rex anymo’. So if I want to not stress over, say, a toilet paper shortage the solution is…have plenty of toilet paper.
I’ve touched on this in an earlier post.
The solution is simple, it just isn’t easy – remove the source of stress.
Every year I stress about my property taxes. I worry that I won’t have the money to pay them and that I’ll lose my house. What eliminates that stress? Paying the taxes (or having the money to do so). So every month I force myself to set aside 1/12th of my property taxes and once a year I pay them for the upcoming year. And the stress disappears (for that year). I don’t worry about getting eaten by that T. Rex because, for that year, the T. Rex doesn’t exist anymore.
Realistically, virtually any single thing you are stressing about can be resolved with enough money..housing, food, health, security, etc….all fixable with enough greenbacks. But, addressing the issue directly is often the best choice… worried about going hungry? Stockpile food. Worried about not being able to make your car payment? Pay off the car or downsize it. Worried about your neighborhood being unsafe? Move or change the character of the neighborhood. Etc, etc.
I hate to use this word, but the secret to avoiding stress is…..control. If you can exert control, of almost any degree, over the situation then your stress is reduced. Sure there are situations you can’t completely control but you can exert some control. I can’t control if I’m going to suddenly have a debilitating stroke..but I can exert some control by eating well, watching my health, etc, etc. I can’t control the goobers in Washington in regards to guns, but I can exert some control by having my mag and gun needs met before they can start their shenanigans. I can’t control what 2021 is going to be like but I can control my supply of food, money, fuel, resources, information and all the things I need to mitigate 2021’s sting.. and that modicum of control reduces any stress I may have.
Probably the best example is my water heater. Years ago, I was informed there was a puddle under my water heater. A prior version of myself would have suddenly had the whole day go dark, and I’d have spent the next few days brooding and being upset wondering where the heck the money was going to come from for this repair and why was my life so crappy that I can’t even get the water heater fixed and..and…and…you get the idea. But, no, it was simply a shrug, “that sucks”, and write a check to the plumber off the emergency fund. No muss, no fuss, no stress. In this particular case, having money was what gave me the control over the situation and eliminated the stress.
Personally, I have not stressed about 2020 (or 2021) enough, in my opinion, to be experiencing negative physiological reactions. Or maybe I am and I’m not noticing it. But I don’t think I am. Why? Because I try to control what I can, and for those things I can’t control I prepare against. Between control of a situation, and being prepared against if the situation arises, any stresses I have are pretty manageable.
Of course…this only works if I’ve foreseen all likely outcomes. As I read on the interwebs, 2020 was the equivalent of stepping up to a crosswalk, waiting for the light, looking carefully both ways before crossing, stepping off the curb….and getting hit by a submarine. Didn’t quite see that one coming. But…by and large….yeah, not stressing.
That’s what prepping is all about. The longer you do it and fill each anticipated need, the more relaxed you become knowing that the unknowns are just a little more manageable. My latest list of things to pickup include replacement faucets for sinks and tubs. My well water has a lot of minerals that really screw up the plumbing. I know that all of them are going to need replacement at some point, so I plan on getting the replacements now. I already have spares for all of the toilet parts.
I sleep very well at night knowing that I have just about all of the bases covered.
Great advice. We lose sight of this simple…but not often easy solution. Thank you!
Plenty of articles on My Profession’s websites about stress management during these “stressful times” in the medical field. Honestly the only stress I have is lack of sleep on those days I’m scheduled to work. Oh sure I swallow some stress like many do in my field and I’ve wondered if the headaches I’m getting the past three weeks are stress induced, but the monitor shows good BP everyday and I’ve just decided the headaches are all sinus related.
Kinda Pop Culture, but some lines from a movie and a song have helped me in these regards. The first is from the film Fight Club… “No fear. No distractions. The ability to let that which does not matter truly slide.” As we all know from Dune, “Fear is the mind killer…” If what you are worried about is something that can’t be helped *right at this minute* stop worrying about it. This, naturally, is hard for most people to do… but once you can, stress goes down a lot. See also, compartmentalizing, box that up and put on the shelf till it’s time to deal with it. And the second was from the song “Sunscreen” – “Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday” Which is exactly what CZ advocates about most personal TEOTWAWKI events.
Personally? A light adult beverage and some RTS gaming usually does it. My own range out back of the shop would help, a little .22 therapy. But I need more backstop which means more overtime, which means… don’t worry about it today.
Very true.
Having a cash stash is a very good stress reliever… You still have the money, and the little disasters that plague us are far less disastrous.
Money turns problems into inconveniences.
Very true Commander, it is what prepping is all about, as well as foresight to comprehend any coming emergency. All it takes is MONEY. or the ability to make MONEY, which equates to having a job that pays well enough to have a little left over and a place where you can store the excesses that you might need in future days/months/years.
For those with a very limited income, I feel for ya, I’m in that same category. Only recently having the room to stockpile mentioned future necessities. For some it’s not a big deal, for others takes a bit longer. But the point is, you have to start. And by starting all it takes is for example, eat twice a day instead or 3 times, saving that 3rd meal (or the money for it) for future use. Instead of going thru a 20 rd box of ammo every range session, only go thru 10 rds. Everyone can do it, unless of course you’re completely destitute. Thats what friends and good neighbors are for, and the ability to swallow your pride and stay on good terms with them. Everyone has to start somewhere, and everyone needs help sometime throughout their lives.
Don’t ever forget what our Founders went through, the hardships and suffering they all faced. Many wealthy and at the end of our Revolution, most were stone cold broke….
Long Live Our Republic.
Yes prepping has definitely reduced worrying about what I would do to feed the family or defend it. I have to say I stress or worry about very little most of my life, and now that I retired last March even less. Although I don’t have the house paid off yet like the Commander with my wife still working and the savings and 401Ks we have we are sitting very well. This virus didn’t really worry me at all, although I did give up all my N95 masks to my daughter for her medical facility who had very few in the beginning of Covid. No matter I have a very effective NIOSH 3M mask and some N100’s. Redundancy is a great stress reducer also.
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https://www.ted.com/talks/bruce_schneier_the_security_mirage
CZ, you’ve offered a lot of good advice in a very short piece here, and I enjoyed it. You are absolutely right that an emergency fund, even small in the beginning, helps folks sleep at night. Your tips remind me very much of a radio financial adviser named Dave Ramsey, out of Nashville. Either you’re a Dave fan or you’ve simply figured out the same simple, powerful principles. You also sound a lot like him in terms of diversifying your financial assets, splitting them up among investments, cash and precious metals. It gets hard to hold cash when the stock market is rocketing, but I believe it is absolutely wise, just as it is smart to not trust all your cash to a bank, which can lock its doors at any time.
My current — and last — wife and I have been together nearly 17 years, so she’s had a while to get used to my prepper beliefs and habits. For the most part she hasn’t objected and I’ve been careful to explain what everything is and why it’s important. But the Great TP Shortage of 2020 really opened her eyes. When scores of our friends were freaking out, we stayed calm and were able to help out a little here and there, all the while keeping OPSEC in mind. She now understands why I go to Sam’s Club and instead of buying one or two cans of the things we eat frequently, I buy one or two cases. When a snow or ice storm is forecast, we rarely have to make that mad dash to the grocery. I think now that she truly understands when I say, “Don’t be scared, be prepared.”
I greatly appreciate and look forward to your advice and observations.
Does your bank offer free bill payment as part of your checking account?
Open a savings account at a different bank – credit unions are better deals – and set up monthly “bill pay” to that account; sam dollars to the credit card, etc.
How much to send? 1/12 of what you consider adequate for “ongoing unplanned needs.” If you keep receipts for tax purposes, go trhough them and see what you spent last year, and the year before. Lacking that, call a plumber and see what a new water heater costs, installed, call your HVAC and ask what their average service call bills are, review what you’ve spent on car repairs. Total everything, divide by 24, start with that. Why 24? You don’t replace water heaters, brake rotors or air conditioners every year.
When the fund gets to 2X the annual estimate use the surplus to buy short term certificates of deposit (yeah, I know, interest rates suck now and have for the past few years) with automatic re-invest. That way the longest you’ll have to wait to access that money without penalty is 90 days, and eventually you’ll have enough certificates that one will be coming up for auto re-invest every 30 days.