Psychological Readiness means that you are mentally prepared to meet a crisis.
Many people try to avoid thinking about disasters because it creates a great deal of apprehension.
As you walk through the process of becoming INFORMED and PREPARED, some of your
fears may actually increase, while others are laid to rest.
Fortunately, intellectual and physical control encourages emotional control and will
lead to less stress during the event or crisis.
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FIND THE HUMOR IN THINGS
YOU ARE LIKE A TEABAG….you don’t know how strong you are until you are put in hot water!!!!
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COPING WITH STRESS
- Get enough sleep and rest. Lack of sleep can lessen your ability to deal with
stress by making you more irritable. Avoid sleeping pills and take more rest periods
if you don’t sleep well. Most adults need 7 - 8 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period.
- Exercise regularly. Make it a point to “work off stress.” Physical activity allows
you a “fight” outlet for mental stress. Relaxed muscles makes relaxed nerves.
- Learn to listen to your body. When you are under stress you will get your own warning
signals which mean you are becoming overloaded.
- Avoid the “Hurry-Flurry-Worry” Syndrome, which affects your eating, sleeping, working,
studying and playing patterns.
- Talk out your problems. It helps to share worries with someone you trust and respect.
If you find yourself becoming preoccupied with emotional problems, it might be wise
to seek a professional listener. This is not admitting defeat. It is admitting you
are an intelligent person who knows when to ask for assistance.
- Balance work with play. Hobbies, recreational activities, etc. can be relaxing,
but also work may be a “cure” for emotional situations.
- Avoid self-medication. Avoid relying on alcohol or other drugs to help you cope.
- Learn to accept what you cannot change. If a problem is beyond your control, accept
it until a change is possible.
- Avoid loneliness. Reach out. Learn to love. Take the initiative in friendship.
- Take one thing at a time. It is defeating to tackle all your tasks at once. Organize and plan.
- Avoid self-pity. Do something for others. Sometimes when you are distressed you concentrate too
much on yourself and on your situation.
- Get away from it all. Loaf a little. Try to divert yourself.
Go to the movies, read books, visit someone, etc.
- Don’t be afraid to compromise. Give in once in a while. In most situations,
you can either fight, run away or compromise. Seldom does the ideal situation present
itself, so get the next best solution and stick with it.
- Make yourself available. Go where the action is. Sitting alone will only make you more frustrated.
- Analyze your problems. Take time to analyze the problem, to consider the possible alternatives
and consequences of taking various courses of action.
- Cultivate self-understanding. Give thought to yourself. Study self in relationship to values,
goals and purposes in life.
- Learn from your experiences. Be better prepared to meet problems in the future.
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Helping Children Cope with Disaster
Children may react to a disaster by demonstrating increased anxiety or emotional and
behavioral problems. Some younger children may return to earlier behavior patterns,
such as wetting the bed and separation anxiety. Older children may react to physical
and emotional disruptions with aggression or withdrawal. Even children who have only
indirect contact with the disaster may have unresolved feelings.
In most cases, such responses are temporary. As time passes, symptoms usually
ease. However, high winds, sirens or other things associated with the disaster
may cause anxiety to return.
Children imitate the way adult cope with emergencies. They can detect adults’
uncertainty and grief. Adults can make disasters less traumatic for children by
maintaining a sense of control over the situation. The best assistance you can
provide a child is to be calm, honest and caring.
A Child’s Reaction to Disaster by Age
Below are some common physical and emotional reactions in children after a disaster or traumatic event:
Birth to 2 years – when children are preverbal and experience a trauma, they do not
have the words to describe the event or their feelings. However, they can retain memories
of particular sights, sounds, or smells. Infants may react to trauma by being irritable,
crying more than usual, or wanting to be held or cuddled. As children get older, their play
may involve acting out elements of the traumatic event that occurred several years in the past
and was seemingly forgotten.
Preschool – 2 to 6 years – Preschool children often feel helpless and powerless in the face
of an overwhelming event. Because of their age and small size, they lack the ability to
protect themselves or others. As a result, they feel intense fear and insecurity.
Preschoolers cannot grasp the concept of permanent loss. They see consequences as
being reversible. In the weeks following a traumatic event, preschoolers’ play
activities may involve aspects of the event. They may reenact the incident or
the disaster over and over again.
School Age – 8 to 10 years – The school age child has the ability to understand the
permanence of loss. Some children become intensely preoccupied with the details of
a traumatic event and want to talk about it continually. The preoccupation can
interfere with the child’s concentration at school and academic performance may
decline. School aged children may display a wide range of reactions – guilt,
feelings of failure, and that the event was not prevented or fantasies of playing
rescuer.
Pre-Adolescence to Adolescence – 11 to 18 years – As children grow older, their
responses begin to resemble adults’ reaction to trauma. They combine some childlike
reactions with others that seem more consistent with adult reactions. Survival of
trauma can be equated with a sense of immortality. A teenager may become involved
in dangerous, risktaking behavior, such as reckless driving or alcohol or drug use.
In contrast, a teenager can become fearful of leaving home. Much of adolescence
is focused on moving out in the world. After trauma, the world can seem dangerous
and unsafe. A teenager may feel overwhelmed by intense emotions, and yet feel
unable to discuss them with relatives.
Meeting the Child’s Emotional Needs
Children usually take their lead in a situation by reading the emotions of adults.
Adults should share their true feelings about the incident, but maintain a sense of
calm for the child’s sense of well being.
Listen to what the child is saying. If a young child is asking questions about the
event, answer them simply without the elaboration needed for an older child or adult.
If a child has difficulty expressing feelings, allow the child to draw a picture or
tell a stsory of what happened.
Try understanding what is causing anxieties and fears. Be aware that following a
disaster, children are most afraid….
… the event will happen again
… someone will be killed
… they will be separated from the family
… they will be left alone
Reassure Children with Compassion and Understanding
- Hug your children
- Calmly and firmly provide factual information about the recent disaster
- Encourage your children to talk about their feelings and be honest about your own
- Spend extra time with your children at bedtime
- Re-establish a schedule for work, play, meals and rest
- Involve your children by giving them specific chores to help them feel they are helping to restore family and community life
- Encourage your children to help develop a family disaster plan
- Make sure your children know what to do when they hear smoke detectors,
fire alarms, and local community warning systems such as horns or sirens
- Praise and recognize responsible behavior
- Understand that your children will need to mourn their own losses
If your children do not respond when you follow the suggestions
listed above, seek help from an appropriate professional such as
the child’s primary care physician, a mental health provider specializing
in children’s needs or a member of the clergy.
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STRESS MANAGEMENT AND RELAXATION
- Perspective: Some exercises to help us gain a better more eternal perspective.
- If you were to be asked to move to a foreign country and could only take half of your belongings,
what would you leave behind? Think of getting rid of some of those things you don’t really need.
- If you were in the middle of a war and life were turned upside down, what would you miss the most?
Do you focus on those things now or do things that are not really important take precedent in your life?
- If you were diagnosed with a terminal illness, what would you want to do before you die? What are you
waiting for/ None of us know when our time on this earth will end and we need to live each day with meaning
not just filling up the time with busyness that does not have real meaning.
- Prioritize things in your life - what is most important to you? Example: A good family,
financial freedom, a strong testimony, community service. Once we set our priorities it is
easier to make decisions and we will automatically have less stress because there will be
less time that we are out of focus with our priorities.
- Realistic vs. Unrealistic Expectations
- The control spectrum - What do we really have control over vs. no control
- Is it realistic to expect our houses to be clean all the time? Other examples?
- Do you have realistic expectations? Or do you beat yourself up over things you do not have control over?
- Simplify Simplify Simplify
- Learn to just say no! - We are not always able to do what others want us to and if we have
properly prioritized our lives, we will be able to say YES to the things that really matter
to us and comfortably say NO to the less or unimportant things.
- Do I need it? Do I want it? Do I use it? Do I have room for it? Do I want to clean it?
- Delegation - What is feasible for someone else to do? What can family members do to ease the
stress around the house? What can be delegated at work? In your calling?
- Organization - Group and store like things together. An organized house makes it easier
for others to help us keep things tidy. This works in the office too.
- When you’ve done all this and still have stress - what then?
- Remember to keep Christ at the center - Continue praying, studying and pondering the scriptures,
and fasting. Christ is the master healer, He is the one true source for peace.
- Take care of yourself first - airline oxygen - sleep enough, drink enough water, eat right and exercise.
- Seek solitude and some alone time every day if possible.
- Find the humor
- Progressive relaxation
- Breathing
- Meditation
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The 7 UPs
- WAKE UP
Decide to have a good day. “this is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalms 118:24
- DRESS UP
The best way to dress up is to put on a smile. A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.
“The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at outward appearance, but the Lord looks
at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
- SHUT UP
Say nice things and learn to listen, God gave us two ears and one mouth, so He must have meant for
us to do twice as much listening as talking. “He who guards his lips guards his soul.” Proverbs 13:3
- STAND UP
...for what you believe in. Stand for something or you will fall for anything. “Let us not be weary
in doing good; for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we
have opportunity, let us do good....” Galatians 6:9-10
- LOOK UP
...to the Lord. “I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
- REACH UP
...for something higher. “Trust in the lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own
understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.” Proverbs 3:5-6
- LIFT UP
...your prayers. “Do not worry about anything; instead Pray about everything.” Philippians 4:6
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A POSITIVE THOUGHT
If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.
If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it.
He sends you flowers every spring, and a sunrise every morning.
Whenever you want to talk, He will listen.
He could live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart.
What about the Christmas gift He sent you in Bethlehem;
not to mention that Friday at Calvary.
Face it, He is crazy about you.
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“To the world, you may just be somebody,
But to somebody, you may be the world”
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An Everyday Survival Kit has the following items:
| Item |
Meaning |
Scripture reference |
| TOOTHPICK |
Pick out the good qualities in others |
Matthew 7:1 |
| RUBBER BAND |
Be flexible, things might not always go the way you want, but it will work out |
Romans 8:28 |
| BANDAID |
Heal hurt feelings, yours or someone else’s |
Colossians 3:12-14 |
| PENCIL |
List your blessings everyday |
Ephesians 1:3 |
| ERASER |
Everyone makes mistakes, and it is okay |
Genesis 50:15-21 |
| CHEWING GUM |
Stick with it and you can accomplish anything |
Philippians 4:13 |
| MINT |
You are worth a “mint” to God |
John 3:16-17 |
| CANDY KISS |
Everyone needs a kiss or a hug everyday |
John 4:7 |
| TEA BAG |
Relax daily and go over that list of God’s blessings |
1 Thessalonians 5:18 |
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THE PENCIL
The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box. “There are
5 things you need to know,” he told the pencil, “before I send you out into the world.
Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be.”
- “You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in someone’s hand.”
- “You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you’ll need it to become a better pencil.”
- “I will be able to correct mistakes you might make.”
- “The most important part of you will always be what’s inside.”
- “On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write.”
The pencil understood and promised to remember it and went into the box with purpose in its heart.
Now remember the pencil is like you. Always remember it and never forget and you will become the best person you can be.
- You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in God’s hand.
And allow other human beings to access you for the many gifts you possess.
- You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems, but you’ll need it to become a strong person.
- God will be able to forgive mistakes you might make.
- The most important part of you will always be what’s on the inside.
- On every surface you walk through, you must leave your mark. No matter what the situation, you must continue to do your duties.
By understanding and remembering, let us proceed with our life on this earth having a meaningful purpose in our heart.
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THE ALPHABET
Accept differences
Be kind
Count your blessings
Dream
Express thanks
Forgive
Give freely
Harm no one
Imagine more
Jettison anger
Keep confidences
Love truly
Master something
Nurture hope
Open your mind
Pack lightly
Quell rumors
Reciprocate
Seek wisdom
Touch hearts
Understand
Value truth
Win graciously
eXercise
Yearn for peace
Zealously support a worthy cause
**********************************************************************************************************************************
a true
friend
is the rarest
of all blessings.
Whenever I have good
news to share,
you’re the first one
I think of.
And when things are difficult
in my life,
I know you’re always there
to listen or lend a helping hand.
Thanks for being
such a good
friend. |
**********************************************************************************************************************************
The Marbles (A story about priorities)
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps,
it’s the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise,
or maybe it’s the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either
way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the kitchen, with a glass of
orange juice in one hand, and the morning paper in the other. What began
as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life
seems to hand you from time to time.
Let me tell you about it. I turned the volume up on my radio in order to
listen to a Saturday morning talk show. I heard an older sounding chap,
with a golden voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in
the broadcasting business himself. He was talking about “a thousand
marbles” to someone named “Tom”.
I was intrigued, and sat down to listen to what he had to say.
“Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you’re busy with your job. I’m sure
they pay you well but it’s a shame you have to be away from home and
your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work
sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your
daughter’s dance recital.”
He continued, “Let me tell you something Tom, something that has helped
me keep a good perspective on my own priorities.”
And, that’s when he began to explain his theory of a “thousand marbles.”
“You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average
person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some
live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.”
“Now the, I multiplied 75 times 52 and came up with 3,900 which is the
number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime.
Now, stick with me Tom, I’m getting to the important par.”
“It took me until I was fifty-fie years old, to think about all this
in any detail,” he went on, “and by that time, I had lived through
over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived
to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy.”
“So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I
ended up having to visit three toy stores to roundup 1,000 marbles. I
took them home, and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container,
right here in my workshop next to the radio.
Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it
away.” “I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more
on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching
your time, here on this earth, run out to help get your priorities straight.”
“Now, let me tell you one last thing, before I sign-off with you, and take
my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last
marble out of the container. I figure, if I make it until next Saturday,
then God has blessed me with a little extra time, to be with my loved
ones.... It was nice to talk to you Tom, I hope you spend more time
with your loved ones, and I hope to meet you again someday. Have a good morning!”
You could have heard a pin drop, when he finished. Even the show’s moderator
didn’t have anything to say, for a few moments. I guess he gave us all a lot
to think about. I had planned to do some work that morning, then go to the gym.
Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. “C’mon honey, I’m
taking you and the kids to breakfast.”
“What brought this on?” she asked with a smile.
“Oh, nothing special,” I said.
“It has just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with
the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we’re out? I need to
buy some marbles.”
May all your Saturdays be Special.
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