I hear you Muleskinner....I feel the same way at times. No matter what I buy for my preps, I never feel ready. I imagine that I will never feel satisfied with what I have, but at least I am knowledgeable and more prepared than most which is an advantage that us here on sites like this have over the regular fodder. I can live with that for now.

I have periods of great anxiety . Moments spanning to weeks when I feel my efforts as well as others is far too little far too late.

Yeah I would agree with all of them but then I have felt like that for years and yet nothing drastic has happened in that time 😉
I think best to go calmly about our business of prepping...when the SHTF, it hits the fan, and there is little we can do to either predict its exact time or to prevent it happening.
So if you are well prepared for it then that's great, if not so prepared it's still better than not being prepared at all.
Panicking or even worrying about when it will happen is a waste of time and energy that could be made more productive.
So on the whole, yes I do or have felt that way I am over the stress it creates so don't spend a lot of time thinking about it anymore.

😀

No anxiety here. Life is great. Doesn't mean not to be prepared, but compared to events even in the last 70 years we are in a stable country, with higher standard of living than ever before!

I'm in the middle on this, do I feel the pinch, no not really, I am living the dream in so so many way here on the farm, and I am more prepared then I have ever been in my adult life, I think my parents at times were even better suited when I was a child/teen then I am now, as I am to close to the major cities.

Having said that, do I feel the need to continue to prep and work to move forward in many ways.. yes I do..

Grateful for what I have, room for improvement, you bet..

No real pinch here. Prepped to last and still surrounded by many knowledgeable and capable older friends and family.

I bet as my parents and aunts & uncles start dying off though, and our collective knowledge starts to suffer, and the kids coming up are only bringing fashion and entertainment knowledge to the group... I'll start getting more anxious.

The only pinch I feel right now is getting 100lbs of tomatoes, 35 lbs of peppers, 25 lbs of carrots, and about 40 lbs of zucchini processed and canned before it all rots!
So if I'm a little slow on a few things like the monthly stats or the topic leadership project...please forgive me or get over to my place with another pressure caner and give me a hand.

Split this topic from here on to Passive Solar Dehydrators...
http://internationalpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=4250

yes

Mostly, I feel fine and carry on with life. Much of the time I forget about what is coming down the line and sometimes I actually catch myself thinking, "It can't get that bad. Seriously. Things will carry on as is." That's when I really feel the pinch because I know damn well that there is no way things can continue like this. At the very least, there is absolutely no way this planet can support 7 billion people or more. NO WAY! That in and of itself will cause catastrophe. Of course, without a crystal ball, there is no telling when the S will truly HTF. I may not see it in my lifetime, my kids will very likely see it, and my grandchildren will definitely see it. I am prepping more for them than myself.

I'm looking ahead in a '20 year plan' kind of way.

I've chosen 20 years as it is a significant fraction of a lifetime. The question I pose to myself is: what durable items should I invest in today to have by my side through the next 20 years (and beyond)?

Reasons for concern:

-In twenty years the energy and productivity of the baby boom cohort will be fully retired and their wealth drained.

-There will be a convergence of high energy prices, increased global demand for food, and a worsening environmental crisis.

-Global and sovereign debt will destabilize political structures (happening now).

-Climate fluctuations and unpredictable natural disasters are more than likely.

It took hundreds of years for the Roman Empire to decline and fall. I believe the pace of change is now counted in decades and years. In the coming 20 years, I will be quietly increasing my state of readiness, prioritizing my decisions from most important to least. Doing it this way affords me the ability to both methodically satisfy my adaptive instincts and have a 'normal', conventional life in the meantime.

It's a long way of saying, "you don't have to do it all today, but don't leave it to the last minute".

I'm looking ahead in a '20 year plan' kind of way.

I've chosen 20 years as it is a significant fraction of a lifetime. The question I pose to myself is: what durable items should I invest in today to have by my side through the next 20 years (and beyond)?

Reasons for concern:

-In twenty years the energy and productivity of the baby boom cohort will be fully retired and their wealth drained.

-There will be a convergence of high energy prices, increased global demand for food, and a worsening environmental crisis.

-Global and sovereign debt will destabilize political structures (happening now).

-Climate fluctuations and unpredictable natural disasters are more than likely.

It took hundreds of years for the Roman Empire to decline and fall. I believe the pace of change is now counted in decades and years. In the coming 20 years, I will be quietly increasing my state of readiness, prioritizing my decisions from most important to least. Doing it this way affords me the ability to both methodically satisfy my adaptive instincts and have a 'normal', conventional life in the meantime.

It's a long way of saying, "you don't have to do it all today, but don't leave it to the last minute".

Nice answer! 🙂