What can you do to help your family be mentally prepared for emergencies?
This post is Day 7 of 30 Days of Preparedness
You never know when an emergency will hit. It could be something big, like an earthquake or tornado, which rocks your world. It could be smaller in scope, like job loss. Which can rock your world just as much as a major disaster. Either way, being mentally prepared will help you cope in any situation thrown at you.
If you want to say “we are prepared” for the challenges that face you, you must imagine what it will take for your family to get there. Imagine the possible scenarios and know how you will respond. The needs will be different for each family. Those who live in the city will prepare differently from those who live in the country.
You must practice what you will do if these upheavals reach your house. Practice, especially of you can make a game out of it with your family, takes some of the scariness out of it. You will be better prepared mentally if you have practiced beforehand.
An emergency won’t be so scary if your children know where the safe room is and how to use it. Knowing where you family is supposed to meet after a natural disaster, and who to call, can give them the tools they can use to be confident and proactive.
Practice, practice, practice.
According to Colleen Hacker, U.S. Women’s Team Sport Psychologist, “Mental skills, like physical skills, can be learned and improved with practice and systematic training.” Make no mistake, your family is in training for when the next emergency hits.
Mental Preparedness and the Athlete
Have you ever practiced and planned for a big sporting event?
- An athlete needs the power of concentration and the ability to stay focused on what they are doing in practices and games. They learn how to be at their peak mentally. To be mentally prepared in an emergency you must learn to get psyched up but not psyched out, and how to deal with failure, injury and adversity.
- Confidence is a critical factor in performance. Confidence is achieved from being prepared and working hard, knowing personal strengths and acknowledging them to yourself, overcoming obstacles, worrying about only what you can control and acting “as if…”
- You can utilize the psychological skills of imagery, goal setting, self-talk, controlling the jitters and performance preparation, just like a premier athlete.
- Don’t forget to develop good support systems. This should be friends and family, who can help you look at things in different ways. You are a member of your communities and social groups. No man can stand alone. Form alliances with your family and friends. Join together for group buying and share knowledge with each other. When things go bad you will have a support system in place to lean on. That support system will be invaluable in your quest for mental preparedness.
Just like physical preparedness, mental preparedness is a mindset. Pure and simple. It is about being a survivor, not a victim. Nothing of value is ever accomplished without careful planning and execution. You may get lucky sometimes and have things fall together without a plan. But it’s easier with a plan!
Bring spirituality into it. Spirituality matters.
Lean on your Higher Power for direction and comfort while you prepare and for direction and comfort when you’ve done all you can. In the end, all we really have is our relationship with God to get us through these trying times.
You can be mentally and spiritually prepared for the challenges that face you. Begin by planning for the emergencies most likely to affect you. Practice your response to those disasters and draw on your support system for comfort.
What have you done to help your family be mentally prepared?
Thanks for joining the Prepared Bloggers as we work our way through 30 Days of Preparedness. September is National Preparedness Month so you will find everything you need to get your preparedness knowledge and skills into shape.
Take one post each day, learn as much as you can about the topic and make it a part of your preparedness plan.
Day 1 – Ready, Set, Get Prepared! Welcome to 30 Days of Preparedness from PreparednessMama
Day 2 – The Family Meeting Place and Escape from Laughingbear Adventures
Day 3 – I’m Safe! How to Communicate with Family in an Emergency from PreparednessMama
Day 4 – Does Your Family Have a Fire Escape Plan? from Home Ready Home
Day 5 – Preparedness For Pets from The Busy B Homemaker
Day 6 – The Escape Exercise from Laughingbear Adventures
Day 7 – It all Falls Apart Without Mental Preparedness from PreparednessMama
Day 8 – It’s a Matter of Emergency Kits from A Matter of Preparedness
Day 9 – Nine Great Emergency Light Sources Other Than Flashlights from Food Storage & Survival
Day 10 – Cooking Without Power from Mama Kautz
Day 11 – The Importance of a Shelter & Staying Warm and Dry from Trayer Wilderness
Day 12 – The Importance of Having The Right Tools In Your Pack from Trayer Wilderness
Day 13 – Practice Living Without Electricity from Food Storage Made Easy
Day 14 – How We Choose The Right Gear – (including the MultiFlame Tool) from Trayer Wilderness
Day 15 – Water Storage & Purification from The Busy B Homemaker
Day 16 – Food and Water for a 72 Hour “Go Bag” from Homestead Dreamer
Day 17 – 8 Foods You Should Be Storing and How from Melissa K Norris
Day 18 – Planning Your Pantry from The Organic Prepper
Day 19 – Stocking Up on Non-Food Items from Living in Rural Iowa
Day 20 – Dutch Oven Cooking: Off-Grid Before Off-Grid Was Cool from The Backyard Pioneer
Day 21 – Preserving and Canning the Harvest from Timber Creek Farm
Day 22 – Personal Protection & Awareness from Living in Rural Iowa
Day 23 – KISS First Aid from Herbal Prepper
Day 24 – Mommy, I have to go Potty! from Mom With a Prep
Day 25 – Fire Starting 101: The Why and How of Lighting a Fire for Survival from Food Storage & Survival
Day 26 – How to Filter and Purify Water from Prepared Housewives
Day 27 – How To Make A Shelter from Trayer Wilderness
Day 28 – Put Your Preps to the Test with 24 Hours Unplugged from The Organic Prepper
Day 29 – What Is Char and Why You Should Have It To Start A Fire from Trayer Wilderness
Day 30 – How To Utilize Bushcraft Skills and Forage From The Wild from Trayer Wilderness
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