Our current public health crisis is introducing a lot of people to hardships that they’ve never had the misfortune of facing. From having to juggle homeschooling children with remote working, to the loss of employment and having to maintain distance from loved ones, many of us are having to overcome challenges. However, COVID-19 can feel like just another problem to add to the pile that we have to navigate in our everyday lives.
Unfortunately, this period is another example of how life can get crazy at unexpected times. Whether we see a decline in our wellbeing that sees us having to navigate a financially frustrating and frequently changing healthcare system, or trying to care for our children while negotiating a difficult divorce, life has a way of testing us. From personal strife to devastating disaster, it’s perfectly natural to find ourselves struggling to cope.
As with the current COVID-19 situation, we can best mitigate stressful situations by being prepared, and taking a logical approach to proceedings. We’ll take a look at a few of the key areas in which life tends to produce bumps in the road, and how we can take an effective, strategic, and calm approach to handling them.
State of Emergency
The very nature of emergencies makes them difficult to predict, and as such it is important for us all to take rational preparations that can help us cope with a variety of scenarios. Aside from our current health crisis, we have the potential to face natural disasters or infrastructural interruptions. Thankfully, there are some general steps that cover the basics across most scenarios.
Firstly, our digital age has presented us with many advantages, and it even has various roles to play in the prevention and handling of epidemics. For most of us, the primary use of technology in emergency scenarios is for communication. Therefore, emergency preparations should include ensuring that you have sufficient access to communication equipment. Obtain solar chargers in the event of power failures so that you can charge phones.
Whether the emergency is health-related or has resulted in your inability to easily access health facilities, it’s also important to gain a basic knowledge of first aid. Wilderness medicine guides can provide you with some knowledge of the various health issues that can occur when in isolated areas, and information on how to both prevent and treat injuries. At the very least, it is important to build a first aid kit and to regularly review the contents. As with many areas of health, it can also be worth exploring which elements of alternative medicine could complement these traditional remedies.
Legal Issues
Those moments that have the potential to up-end our lives are not always going to be life-threatening catastrophes. That doesn’t mean to say that they won’t have the potential to have a devastating effect on our wellbeing. Legal problems — whether litigation, criminal proceedings, or family cases — are among those common legislative hurdles that can arise.
In the same way that we wouldn’t look up surgery techniques on YouTube and perform them on ourselves, our legal troubles tend to benefit from expert guidance. Whether you’re engaging them throughout the entirety of the process, or just for initial advice, an attorney should be your first port of call. In the event of criminal proceedings in most developed countries, it is your right to retain the services of a lawyer without cost.
It is your attorney’s responsibility to help you to better understand what is happening, what is likely to occur, and what your options are. If you’ve been arrested, have them explain the full process of arraignment, including clarification of the reading of your charges, the prospect of plea negotiations, and how this fits into the trial process. Being confused about any aspect of your legal troubles is a recipe for disaster — use their expertise to clear the fog, and allow you to make more informed decisions.
Financial Concerns
The majority of us exist with some level of debt. In 2018, CNBC reported that, excluding mortgages, the average American is $38,000 in debt. But we tend to incorporate it into our budgets and attempt to co-exist with it. However, unexpected life events — such as the unemployment many are currently experiencing — can send our financial stability into turmoil.
Panic in the face of a financial crisis is perfectly understandable; our inability to pay outstanding debts, bills, and feed our families can feel overwhelming. Thankfully, in many cases, there are solutions to getting out of debt, regardless of our income level. As outlined in the linked resource, this should begin with you calmly and logically assessing the true extent of your debt, and how much you owe to each creditor.
From here you can start taking practical action. Open a dialogue with your creditors, be open with them about your financial situation, and the efforts you are taking to rectify that. Some debts, such as certain student loans, can be deferred depending on your income level, so it’s always worth investigating what your options are. From here, though, it is also your responsibility to create a new budget and explore the changes you can make to allow you to maintain your new debt agreements.
Conclusion
Emergency scenarios, legal troubles, and financial difficulties can all quickly become overwhelming when they spring up seemingly out of nowhere. However, with some preparation, engagement with sources of expertise, and decisive action we can successfully overcome even some of the most difficult of these.
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Guest Author Bio
Magnolia Potter
Magnolia Potter is a muggle from the Pacific Northwest who writes from time to time and covers a variety of topics. When Magnolia’s not writing, you can find her curled up with a good book.
Blog / Website: Magnolia Potter
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