Well, my world, at least. That was the year I lost everything -- first my job, then my car, eventually my home, and as a result, my kids and my health. I went to purgatory, this limbo land, sort of like the place your computer goes when it freezes. The screen sticks on the last webpage you viewed and then ceases to respond. My friends and family tried pushing keys, control-alt-delete, task manager, restart...nothing. I simply crashed. At 50 years old, I was a single unemployed mom with no plan B, and I lost everything.
I am grateful for my parents who let me move back into the spare bedroom while my kids stayed with their dad. My parents are old, and many people my age have lost their parents by the time they are 50, so that my parents were my Plan B is a testament to how hapless I've allowed my life to become. By the grace of God, I had 5 long months to work through the darkness under their loving wings.
First, I got right with God. The Second task: get healthy. Check. Third task: find a job. Check. Fourth task, establish a home. Check. Fifth task, get kids back home and on a schedule. Check.
Now it's time to prepare for the future--a future I want to live. Every day is one day away from the past and I'm not looking back. At the same time, now in 2012, we continue to live in financially precarious times and globally -- dangerous times. You can blow it off as crazy, but take it from someone who lost everying -- it sucks. My head is out of the sand now, and I know that with my God-given brain and talents, I am obligated to think smart and to plan for the future.
PLAN D
That means, I have my A plan, business As usual. Life is good.
I have my B plan -- what if I hit a Bump? Which means I need to have 3-6 months worth of savings in case I lose my job so that I have time to find a new job before I lose my home.
I have my Plan C, something could Curtail my progress. This is when I start downsizing and regrouping, modifying my living situation to accommodate a new standard.
And then there is my Plan D -- which is when you have to Dump plan ABC and hold on for a Difficult ride. Plan D is enacted when there is a sudden shift in traditional support functions. This could be a natural disaster such as earthquakes in my home state of California or any number of local or global catastrophic occurances from economic to political or a combination of both.
I'm not a "prepper"--yet, but I'm also not stupid anymore. You aren't stupid either, because you are googling and reading about prepping. You are thinking about your own Plan D. Don't worry about being called crazy, because I can tell you that being hapless about what could happen will drive you quicker to crazy than planning for reasonable events that not only could happen but have happened to others all over the world from time to time. Just pick up a history book and read about various natural disasters and political or wartime periods. It's crazy not to make a plan!
While I am just finally getting back on my feet, I am challenged with being a single mom with 2 teenagers -- a 15 year old daughter and a 16 year old son. That means I'm spending more money on gas and cars and getting ready for paying for college. It also means I have less money to prepare for stockpiling food and building reserves in my home.
That's why I'm writing this blog -- to share how I'm working through the challenges. You have challenges too, different than mine, but we can help each other by sharing our insights. Our collected experiences are invaluable and through community we can bolster our progress in building our plans.
You can learn from my mistakes and you can give me advice too! We are greater than the sum of our parts, so feel free to throw in your two cents!
I'll share my path and please share yours. Together, we can face the challenges of the future.
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