on disaster...

Have you ever had a disaster in your life, or been witness to disaster? I am sure we can all answer "yes" that question. After all, we have all heard of the events that took place on 9/11, we have all witnessed the devastation brought on my tornado's, hurricanes, tsunami's, and earthquakes. Perhaps some of us have even lived through these events, and survived to talk about them. But today I realized that a disaster does not have to be a big, major catastrophie. A disaster can be a small event in our daily lives that throws us off of our normal schedule. I mean, I am not sure that we can call misplacing our car keys a disaster, but we can call a fender bender, or a sudden illness a disaster in our personal life a disaster. After all, an event such as that can throw us off of our normal daily routine. And what to do if we run into a disaster one day? Do we flip out, and think the world is crashing down around us, or do we keep things in perspective, know that it can always be worse, and make a plan to get back on track? I hope the later! Personal disasters can be traumatic events. We can, even momentarily, think there may be no way out of the situation we are faced with. We may cry, scream, and crumble, and all of that is ok, HOWEVER, what we need to do after the meltdown is regroup, recompose, and refocus. Just like a disaster of great proportion, we need to devise our own Red Cross and Homeland Security plan. We need to breakdown and prioritize all of the steps we need to take to get through the disaster, and find ourselves back on top. To refocus we need to have a clear mind, and a final goal in place; something that we can focus on to know we will get through our disaster, and know that life must go on. If God set us to it, He will see us through it! As I have wrote about in the past, we are not given more than we can handle, so take baby steps until you reach the finish line. Disaster is not the end, but perhaps a situation that forces us to think and act differently then we normally would, or a new beginning. Disaster can bring us down, but it can also lift us to new limits, new highs, new peaks, one's that we never thought we could reach!

Today's activity: make a disaster plan
By definition: a natural or man-made event that negatively sets us off track or affects life

Ever think about making a generic disaster plan for yourself? Not a plan that is carved in stone, but rather a guideline or outline of what you would or could do in the event that a personal disaster takes place. While we don't ever know when a disaster may take place, we can train our minds to be prepared for a disaster at any time. First, we need to remember that WE CAN GET THROUGH a negative situation. Then, after we realize that, we need to breathe, and make a plan. I have a tendency to break down, or compartmentalize things in my head, then I prioritize them. I find this way of thinking to be very helpful to me. At then end of  the day, I can take a quick mental inventory of my day, be sure I have crossed all of the critical things off of my list, and know that anything else can be addressed at a future time. The same can take place for a personal disaster. If a disaster takes place, take care of the critical things first; your health, and then the health of others that may be involved. Health, mental and physical, are the most important. If those two items are in order, you will have the strength to address all other issues that may come your way. Today I encourage you to think about a personal plan of disaster. Create a guideline in your head, or on paper, to reinforce your plan. Again, we know life happens when we least expect it, but if we are healthy and strong we CAN get through a personal disaster, no matter how big or how small. Have a plan in place, and activate as necessary! Go, do, be! xo