We have for the past couple of days been exploring what we would do when disaster or unforeseen events happen in our lives. Did you stop and think for even a moment what you would do if this happened to you? I grew up in Japan and the ground was always shaking beneath my feet. I got used to it. I became a human earthquake scale and I knew when it shook a certain way, or for a certain amount of time, or it certain things around me began to move in a certain way that I either could ignore it and go back to sleep or I should sit up, assess the situation, call out for my parents and then run from the house. So when I moved to California as an adult, I put these skills into motion once again when the ground shook underneath me. I was “programmed” you might say. I had an previous experience and a plan of how to act, what to do, where to go and what to say.
Think about your own situation right now. What skills do you have that you can draw on when something goes very wrong either in relationships, in your ability to earn income, put a roof over your head or a debilitating injury say from a car accident…what will you do? I’m talking about being prepared with a plan. I’m talking about letting your family and friends know what you might need from them or how you might call on them to help you out in tough times. I am not saying that this type of thinking invites trouble that is ridiculous. I am saying that when you have a plan of action that is in place when you are “whole”, it is easier to pull it out and work the plan than it is to panic and loose precious time.
Last time I talked about feeling push back from the reader. This is natural. We as Americans think of ourselves as achievers, survivors, able to preserve and overcome anything because that’s what brought us to who we are today as a nation. We are also the first on the scene when others need a hand after a disaster of any type. We as Americans are generous to a fault almost in giving even a small amount such as five dollars and when you multiply that times millions of of people you get millions of dollars for aid to others in need.
Just like we as a nation are prepared and mobilized in the event of an emergency and disaster relief, you too can be a model of preparedness. When you are asked to donate your $5.00 (in the case of the Hatti relieve via your cell phone) did you reel back in shame and hide? No. You gave your $5.00 and you had a very good feeling that even if it was a small amount you could make a difference in a hurting population. You felt good inside.
Repeat the feeling. Let go of your almighty pride and get down to the business of planning and being prepared in case of those bumps in the road and challenges that life throws at us. Did you know that almost without exception that every one of you reading this blog will at sometime in your life loose a job, be fired from a job or be involved in a natural disaster of some kind. Now I have experienced all of these so I am in a place of: “..that will not happen again….can it?….” Then just last month New Jersey experienced two earthquakes which sounded like natural gas explosions….that woke me up!
Think about what you would do if you lost your job at the end of the month. Your employer has been able to hold on through the last year and a half of economic downturn and has used his/her own fortune to keep the company above water, but that money is now exhausted. The loans are coming due and the customers which buy the goods and services that your company produces and that you work on daily just are not there any more. There are no order for next quarter, or the next or indeed the remainder of the year.
What is you plan?
We all have to begin someplace. How will you “start”?
