Let’s say your spouse isn’t hell bent on bunker building, but you want his/her preparedness support. How does one accomplish that?

(Note that I’m now using gender neutral language. There are SHTF homegirls viewing this site as well.)

Well, this is a subject that’s been covered by others before, but let me give you the Ranger Man version. First off, let’s break the non-preparedness spouse down to a few manageable categories:

1. No Way, No How;
   
2. Whatever, I Don’t Care; and
   
3. Fine
   

“No Way, No How”
The spouse that replies to your survival tendencies in this fashion either 1) is seeking to deny their TEOTWAWKI fears, or 2) thinks the whole preparedness thing is just plain kooky and shudders at the thought of being married to a weird survival ninja. This is obviously the toughest spousal preparedness situation to overcome, because not only is he/she not interested in taking modest steps toward preparedness, but he/she also doesn’t want YOU to take these steps. Good luck with this one. You can either try swaying the person’s mind, preparing anyway in secret (never good), or, as Sena suggested, “trade up.” I suppose dropping your preparation desires and forgetting sweet survival action altogether is another option . . . .

“Whatever, I Don’t Care”
For many people this may be as far as you get. It translates roughly to “I think the whole idea is dumb, but I have better battles to fight.” Take this and run with it, but you’re still on shaky ground. Start off slow with projects like building a pantry or buying a water purifier. Then you can move toward, “Honey, I think you need a .50 BMG.”

“Fine”
Reach this stage and you’re on your way to spouse survival success! The only thing better than this is when your spouse hops on the SHTF train and starts telling YOU how to tan a hide. “Fine” translates roughly to “okay, this sounds like something we might need to do . . . I’m intrigued.” Move on this action, but proceed cautiously. Don’t dive into the sky is falling lingo on bird flu, economic collapse and asteroids all at once. Encourage him/her to come up with ideas on their own.

Ranger Man’s Mrs. is at the “fine” stage. Anything more than that and she might start to scare ME.

SHTFblog Suggestions for Securing Spousal Support:

• Start Easy, discuss current events and “what if” situations, there’s plenty in the news to spark preparedness suggestions.
  
• Watch a movie that could spark discussion on this subject.
  
• Read a SHTF book in the presence of your spouse and mention the book’s details as you move through it. At this stage fiction works better than non-fiction, because the odds are higher that your spouse will be interested in a story’s development rather than how to store wheat for 4 years. One of my personal favorites is Parable of the Sower. It’s a newer novel that reads fast and offers real survival advice that could be applied to any TEOTWAWKI event. I’ll discuss this book further in future posts, because it’s that good.
  
• Turn the Mrs. on to www.mrssurvival.com. That way she can talk about the subject with other women helping to break down the male dominated views on survivalism.
  
• Engage in projects that serve multiple purposes. Gardening for example. You get outside, grow your own food, get some exercise, and save on your grocery bill.
  
• Set this site as your homepage, so whenever your web browser opens – sha-zam!
  
• Discuss the kids’ safety. That’ll get a parent’s attention any time. Even if he/she won’t prepare for themselves, they’ll prepare for their offspring. This is actually a big part of the reason I prepare. Even if TEOTWAWKI doesn’t hit in my lifetime, living a life with preparedness in mind helps children develop the necessary skills for their own survival. Chances are even higher that S will HTF in the next generation’s lifetime, but hey, you NEVER know when the shit is going down. Could be today, tomorrow or ten years from now.
  

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

Via: shtfblog

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