Everything in moderation would be the key being ready for anything while at the same time enjoying life to the future. It is much easier to enjoy life to the fullest when you have the peace of mind that no matter just about what comes your way you will be able to adapt to the situation.
It used to be the term survivalist was popular. Then it became vilified so the term prepper was invented. I know of some ``preppers `` on one site that did not want survivalists to be members, go figure. Now the word prepper is falling out of favour and we have the terms self sufficient, self reliant and homesteader that are gaining favour. For anyone who is organising their lives in an urban environment the term homesteader obviously does not apply. The term self sufficient means not requiring any aid, support, or interaction, for survival. This term in its strictest form does not describe what we do or in fact our goals. Self reliance refers to reliance on one's own capabilities, judgment, or resources. While I would hope that everyone in society would strive towards this goal I think it falls short of describing the lifestyle that we have chosen.
There are many terms to choose from does it matter which one we choose to be describe our lifestyle?
Survivalist, prepper, self sufficient, self reliant, self supported, self sustained, independent, sovereign, self sustaining, self supporting, homesteader, self subsisting, self dependant, independent, self subsisting are all terms that have been used in one form or another. I would say that all of us have the goal of self reliance and most of us believe that at some point there will be a severe degradation of the society in which we live. That belief, like it or not, makes the term survivalist the most applicable.
Call me old-fashioned but I think that I would prefer to use the terms used by my grandparents. When asked to describe themselves they would use the term “normal” and when asked to describe what they were doing they would use the term “living”.