How you know who your friends are.
“when things go bad”
Lessons when things go bad are some of the hardest lessons learned. This week we have been praying and sending assistance to Oklahoma after the total ruin of a 20 mile swath from a tornado on the ground over an hour. Most don’t have basements to take cover in this kind of threat, so how do you prepare, and what are you preparing for? Lessons when things go bad was a personal experience in the summer of 1975. There were funnel clouds all summer and a touchdown in our back yard. We had a basement to take shelter in. The problem is that it all happens so fast that you can’t actually react in time. I was putting dinner on the table with my two little children sitting on each side when I heard a loud roar and instantly I witnessed the window imploding in slow motion. Glass was everywhere, in our food food and stuck in the table but thankfully not a scratch on my children. We did flee to the basement, but by then it was all over. The lesson I learned was don’t wait, take shelter before the danger is near.
Another lesson learned when things go bad is, take a deep breath and try to calm down. Take each moment, one at a time to calm your mind. Deal with the present, one moment at a time to control fear and panic. Easier said than done, but by calming your mind, knowing you are alive and breathing will help immensely. When you have so much to process, personally and then you start to think about your business that has also been devastated, controlling panic rising up inside is critical. After the tornado hit our house I lived in fear of every storm that came that summer. It only subsided when I quit reliving what happened, and worked to remember we were all safe and sound. In Oklahoma where families have lost children and loved ones, this process will be the most difficult of all. Only time, one dat at a time will bring the process of grieving to the process of living and going on.
All the business owners that have had personal loss, family loss and business loss my heart goes out to you. The numbness you feel, the overwhelm and total devastation of your life is not anything you could imagine. There are those that will be there to bring and give support long after the news media is gone. That is what we do in America, we care for our own. We care, because we had hard lessons when thing go bad, we understand, we sympathize and we will be there for you. Reach out, accept the help, it will make this lesson easier to bear when you don’t bear it alone.
Blessings to all of you this Memorial Day Weekend. Please share if you would like to lessons you have learned when things go bad. It will be a comfort to someone else who is struggling today.
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