A lot of us are not prepping "perfectly." We may not be in the physical condition we wish we were. We may not live where we'd like to be living. We may be in a situation that feels diametrically OPPOSITE of being a prepper.

I know that I'm certainly not doing things "perfectly" on any level right now.

A severe injury has sidelined me for far longer than I ever expected - and I'm nowhere near the finish line. Because I am having some procedures that will require the use of mobility aids for a while, I need to live someplace easily accessible and where it's easy to get deliveries. I have been hating the fact that I feel so dependent on the system right now. So dependent on others - my neighbor who brings my mail, my daughter who comes over and helps with some things I can't manage at the moment.

I've always been an extremely independent person, someone who just pushed through every hardship, someone who was active and healthy. But now, I have to take a step back and live a different lifestyle than I've lived before. Because the absolute most productive thing I can do is rest and wait to heal.

I fought it for a while. I was so angry about this. I am not ashamed to admit I was pretty depressed about my current situation.

But then I realized that within this lies an opportunity to prep in a different way. I've lived in a lot of places and prepped in a lot of different ways, from living in the forest semi-off the grid in the Algonquin Forest to homesteading in the California mountains to living in suburbia. I've lived out of a suitcase and remained as prepped as possible as a digital nomad.

So now, it's time for a new kind of prepping. And I think it's a relatable kind of prepping for a lot of us. A less than "textbook" prepping where we try and accommodate our shortcomings and prepare to survive the best way we can.

I've written about this before: I believe that the odds are with us in the event of most events. More people than not survived the Great Depression in the United States and the economic collapse in Greece. More people survived the Balkan War than perished in it. Throughout history, our ancestors were the people who have survived all kinds of hardships - at least long enough for us to be here. And I'm willing to bet many, many of the people who survived unthinkable difficulties were not "perfectly" prepped.

They were smart, resilient, and determined. They didn't dwell on the negative and what they "couldn't" do. They found a way to do what they needed to do and acquire what they needed to acquire.

They did it, and we will, too.

I'll be writing more about managing these challenges over the next few months. I hope that you'll bear with me when I share content that isn't necessarily for the "perfect" preppers among us. I hope that I'm not letting you down by my less-than-stellar situation as I make decisions to aid in my recovery.

I also hope that in the comments, no matter what your situation, you will be kind and encouraging to the folks who are looking for a way to survive regardless of their personal situations. Don't discourage people who are doing their very best to work around handicaps, financial problems, and less-than-perfect living arrangements.

We are all here because our ancestors were survivors. We all get to be hopeful and make accommodations for ourselves. I'm excited about the next steps, even if those steps are a little bit harder to take than they used to be.

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