The word that comes to my mind when thinking about the recent Covid-19 or Coronavirus cases in my own community is “Chaotic”. If you are experiencing this, you may have gone to the grocery store this week, and found it overcrowded, and the shelves empty. In times of chaos, wise decisions are needed and it will be difficult to make decisions for your family if you are in a state of panic and anxiety. So what can we do about our own state of anxiety and panic?
Stop and breathe, and remember God is still on the thrown and is in control.
Acknowledge this is stressful and reduce unnecessary activities and increase selfcare.
Pray the Serenity Prayer: ”God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Surrender your own lack of control and ask God, your friends, and family for help. If your symptoms are severe our counselors at Heartland Counseling Center would be happy to help also.
Educate yourself about Coronavirus and ways to prevent it. There is a great deal of information on the CDC website as well as your local county’s website.
Limit the amount of news you and your children watch.
Be positive and encouraging in your own mind and to others.
This is a great opportunity to teach your children how to handle a crisis!
Ask yourself if there is something you could do to help another person, especially seniors. Our country’s strength is in our teamwork and team spirit. Remember after Pearl Harbor, a Japanese Admiral was known to have verbalized his fear of “Awakening the sleeping giant ”? The giant was certainly awakened after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Our troops grew from 180,000 before Pearl Harbor to 8.6 million at the end of the war. (I’m proud to say my Dad was among them.) With teamwork and determination our country united, even housewives were working in factories to produce weapons and munitions to support the troops. Objects made of metal, nylon, and rubber were donated by families to help the War effort. Everyone helped, adults and children. It was that team spirit that terrified our enemies and eventually helped us win the war.
So in light of this, and the rich history we come from, are we going to allow Coronavirus to put us in a panic? This may be a few months of inconveniences for most of us, and sadly, illness and death for some. Let’s use this as an opportunity to show our children what to do when a crisis occurs, with compassion, teamwork, wisdom, and kindness.