Our society is such that most of us don’t have to lead a very active life. We don’t have to hunt or forage and we don’t have to run or hide from predators. So most of us will never be what the media calls fit, we won’t run the marathon, climb Everest or any of these manly type things. So what?
I’m not talking about being Arnold Schwarzenegger. I’m talking about a general level of fitness. Being able to walk a few miles, do some gardening, dig some holes and able to perform everyday tasks.
The best way to do that is to plan to perform some form of exercise every day and improve your fitness level. Slowly but surely. Swimming is highly recognised as a very good way to improve all aspects of your health and is usually available to all. One item that is worth considering is the humble bicycle. It can be used to keep you fit and improve your health. It can be used as a replacement for your car and public transport over short distances saving costs as well. It will be painful to start with but you will get used to it.
Now, one other important thing. Mental well being and attitude. This is usually ignored in this context but you must prepare yourself for any measures you need to take when any problems occur. Who will remain calm whilst a fire is raging around you? If you don’t you may die.
One other thing, as we get older our body starts to betray us. We can’t walk as far, run as far, recover as quickly and we start to get niggling pains in places that were working OK a few years ago. Our bodies physically start to go south and we slow down and parts start failing. We need pills and equipment just to keep going. Don’t forget that and if you need regular medical attention like a dialysis machine then you could very well be out of luck in a worse case scenario. As well as that we can have mental health problems and we start forgetting things and making mistakes.
Prepare yourself for all eventualities you can. It will likely be the hardest part of getting prepared.