We are now in the midst of this coronavirus pandemic crisis and will hopefully soon see the other side. In the meantime, we can implement the Seven F’s of surviving this Coronavirus pandemic. The seven F’s will help us through this frightening and challenging time when it is just too easy to be discouraged or worried.
Forethought
Fight the urge to panic, take some calming breaths, sit down and start a list of what you can do to mitigate your situation. A couple of the things you should give forethought are suggestions to think about.
What positive steps can you take to get prepared, stock up, stay prepared while under quarantine or restricted movement outside your home? What steps can you take to protect yourself when you have to go outside your home. (Action idea: wear a mask or scarf over your mouth to protect yourself. There is a reason that caregivers are wearing them and President Trump is now recommending them. Take hand sanitizer and sanitizing spray for your shoes, car door handles and steering wheel to use when getting back in your car.)
What steps can you take to shore up or income sources? How can you take advantage of the state and federal loss of income coverage for now? Take proactive action when trying to survive a pandemic or any other crisis. Think outside the box. What dream have you been putting off that you could devote time to actually executing or what project that you never have time to finish?
Family
This should be an action step too in surviving a pandemic. It is critical for your health and your family’s that you stay interactive, compassionate, understanding, and patient. If you are alone, reach out and stay in touch as much as you can with your loved ones. Love of family and the support we give each other is the binding thread of our strength and character.
Being together with your family in shared quarters weeks on end can threaten those bonds as we all probably know by now! Making a routine that works for all, exercising inside and in the yard, if you have one, can get rid of excess energy while keeping us healthy. Family activities in your home and yard will create lifelong memories It is up to us what memories we make for our loved ones out of this coronavirus pandemic crisis. Puzzles and games are a tried-and-true positive family experience. Too many electronics right now will just keep us isolated from each other. We can look at this as a long-time fulfilling of our wish to get closer to our innermost family members. Strong family relationships are critical to surviving a pandemic or any other major crisis in our lives.
Friends
Friends, co-workers, church members, organization members and our community are going through the same pandemic and economic crisis as most of us are. When we take our thoughts off of our situation and try to reach out to help others we also gain health and loss of stress. Compassion and caring are food for our bodies as well as our souls! Do what you can! Reach out and help others. Stay in touch. One of those friends may help you too or have an idea that will help to mitigate this pandemic crisis.
Faith
Possibly the most important F in this 7 action steps to take to survive a pandemic or major life crisis. Fear and worry debilitate, faith shores you up. Having faith in something bigger than yourself repositions you for calmness, patience, love and compassion. Personally, I am a Christian, and I cannot imagine facing challenges such as this without that foundation of faith. This can be a time of getting closer to your fountain of faith, digging deeper into why you are here and what you can accomplish to make this world a more loving and compassionate place for all of us. With faith, we can come out of this epic crisis stronger than we went in.
Freedom
Amid fear and worry, we must remember that even if some things in our lives have changed dramatically, we have invaluable freedoms and blessings. We have the freedom during this coronavirus pandemic crisis to choose how we handle the crisis. We are free to use the time to our benefit or to just get through it. We are free to make use of this time to better ourselves, further our education, build stronger ties with family and friends. We have the freedom to expand our minds and improve ourselves. We have the freedom to stretch ourselves to think outside the box on how we can come through this crisis both spiritually and economically. Most importantly, I feel strongly that in this time of crisis we need to guard zealously our freedoms, that we do not trade them away through fear.
Fortitude
Fortitude is courage and endurance. We must be courageous and not give in to our fears during this worldwide coronavirus pandemic. We can look back at other frightening times and understand that we made it through. Life-changing events can strengthen us and our character, make of us better human beings. Enduring this crisis can be an opportunity to widen and deepen our understanding of the world we live in, how closely we are all connected, and bring us strength. Or we can sit and spin in our weakness and worry. It is our choice.
Foundation
My sincere hope and prayer for all who read this is that this can be an opportunity to build a stronger foundation for ourselves in our family and friends. That it makes us more loving and understanding of each other. That we let go of divisive thoughts and actions. That we give forethought to what we can proactively do or accomplish during this coronavirus pandemic and economic uncertainty. That we guard and appreciate our freedoms while reaching for, recognizing. new opportunities as they come. That we build our faith in our God, ourselves and our loved ones. With the fortitude of courage, conviction and endurance, this experience makes us better people. And finally, if we incorporate the 6 F’s discussed in surviving a pandemic, we build that 7th F into a foundation of a better life for all.
