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each day about what affects your life, family,
work, home, health, safety, etc. Realize what is
truly important: happiness, love and simple
goodness. Keep a positive attitude. Happily hope
for the very best while you realistically plan and
prepare for the worst. Generously give others
respect, kindness, tolerance, forgiveness, and
help.
Your plans
do not need to be perfect or unchanging. Err
on the side of caution, since better safe than
sorry.
Do the hard
part first by imagining “the worst” and then
finding out information about such
possibilities. Once you have good, written
plans for a severe, long crisis, then you can
easily reduce your drastic measures if the crisis
proves to “only” be short or medium in length
and intensity.
Imagine what
you might be forced to do if you lost all/part of
your income, lost your home, your car, your
investments, your access to medicine and health
care and lost the support of friends, family and
community.
Imagine what
your local world might turn into if there were
very severe unemployment, home foreclosures,
poverty, $10/gallon gasoline and home heating oil,
food shortages, deep government cutbacks to the
police, fire department, hospitals, shelters,
social security, etc.
Your number
one priority one should be food, water, shelter,
safety and health for you and loved ones.
Priority two is other people and your possessions,
money, investments, non-essentials, etc.
Immediately
write down several, different contingency actions
you will do if “the unthinkable worst”
happens. Advance planning is precious.
It is impossible to plan wisely and thoroughly
after a crisis begins. This is why people
should practice a fire drill before there is a
fire.
As best you
can, answer these very difficult questions (which
assume a long, severe crisis occurs):
“IF I lose
my job and have no real income for the next 4+
years, then I will do:
a)___________ b) __________ and/or c)
__________
“IF I lose
my ______ (home, car, investments, health care,
etc.), then I will do:
a)___________ b) __________ and/or c)
__________
“IF my
__________ (parent(s), sibling, etc.) lose their
______ (job, home, car, health care, etc.), then I
will do:
a)_____ and/or b) ________
Carefully
choose a few knowledgeable people you respect and
trust to solicit their response to your “what if”
plans.
Discretely
discuss your “hypothetical” plans in a
measured, appropriate manner with anyone who
depends on you, such as, your spouse, teenage
children, elderly parents, etc. Solicit
their contributions and suggestions. Try to
build a team consensus in a “democratic family
meeting” atmosphere. Welcome their
positive responses, but expect some surprising,
negative reactions eventually.
Update your
initial emergency plans as you learn more, as
things change, and based on the comments and
responses of others. |