Life lessons learned from 10 seasons of The Walking Dead

Be Prepared

A zombie apocalypse isn’t the only time you need to think about being prepared. Recently the panic caused by the global pandemic led to shortages of basic supplies and the efforts of states to halt the spread led to shelter in place orders and businesses closing. Two lessons I learned are that I now know which of my neighbors would hide a bite mark if there really was a zombie apocalypse and how fortunate I am that due to my location, I am always stocked up on supplies.

Do you know basic first aid? What about safely starting a fire? Can you prepare a meal over that fire? Keep warm during a power outage? Can you identify what is safe to eat in the wild? Grow your own food? Sew your clothes? Can you do basic repairs on your vehicle? Do you pay attention to the recommended guidelines that tell you the things you should have on hand in case of a natural disaster?

All the information is readily available from cooperative extension offices attached to local colleges, on trusted web sites, even in old school phone books. Each state also has recommendations of supplies you should have on hand in their disaster preparedness handbooks.

Basic skills and pre-planning can go a long way to making trying times less stressful.