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| Flickr photo by thinboyfatter |
Some things are just a matter of making the decision beforehand like we were all taught in the D.A.R.E. program. I will not do drugs. I will not smoke. I will not drink. If you have that in your head ahead of time, when the offer comes, it is easier to turn down. The same goes with the rest of life. I will not spend over $X. I will not lie, cheat, steal... etc. Most importantly, for any situation, I will not freak out! Maintain your composure! Should you find yourself in a survival situation, stay calm! There are a million and one picture posts on Pinterest with the "Keep Calm" theme. Create your own themes. No matter what your kids do, what your boss does, what people at work do, or what random people around you do, remember to keep calm.
It is easy to let emotions get the better of us and when they do, we generally end up regretting the result. For instance, I am an ER nurse and sometimes I see patient who come in with massive trauma. If a patient comes in from a car accident and there is blood everywhere from glass in their arm and their foot is broken sideways, it is easy to concentrate on that. In nursing however, we remember that the ABC's are the most important. Airway, breathing, circulation. The patient may be bleeding and their foot looks awful but if he isn't breathing then none of that matters. So, maintaining composure helps you to think clearly and remember your training. The same is true with fighting and survival.
Mental preparation starts with developing plans for possible situations. Having plans for various natural disasters that could happen in the area you live in is a good start. The next step would be practicing those plans. That is the training aspect. If you help your family to be trained for a disaster, they are less likely to freak out when it actually happens. This is why it is important to practice survival skills as well. So that when the situation arises, you can remember your training that is real, not something you vaguely remember from reading in a book once.
So, make a plan. Start today by thinking of real possible situations your family could encounter and then make a plan of action for how to handle that situation. Next, start training! This is where the knowledge will get ingrained into your brain and you will be able to keep calm and use that knowledge when the time comes. The time will come and when it does, you will be thankful.
I just want to add here. It may be morbid, but I have frequently imagined the possibility of death in my family during different crisis. I don't suggest dwelling on it, but remembering the possibility can help you to keep a cool(er) head. Don't let fear cripple you either before, during, or after a situation. We all die, it's a fact (and sadly the other fact is taxes...)
ReplyDeleteApart from death, injury, and illness, thinking ahead on things such as rendezvous points for your family, evacuation routes, what items to grab in an emergency and where to keep them, and others will keep you running efficiently. In a less dramatic scale, thinking of where you could apply for work in case of job loss and how you would react to your car breaking down are just a couple things you can do to protect your way of day-to-day life.