Crisis Management 101: Part 2

Hey everyone, the last time I talked about crisis management from the causative perspective, which was a little intensive. Now I'm going to talk about the second side of crisis management: Stress management.

When we hear stress management, we think it is associated with people who need therapy or as a last resort for anxiety or anger. But recently, stress management has been emphasized, especially with the rise in mental health awareness. Because of its prejudice, stress management has a bad rep. We tend to think that "the person's condition must be serious for them to be recommended stress management," but this is untrue. Stress management is not that complex and applies to everybody. Even though it seems to sound like a class recommended for medical conditions, we must learn to understand that it is anything we do to cool off, calm down, or take our minds off stressful situations: like the current Coronavirus. It can be easy to get lost in bad news about how the virus spreads and the panic surrounding it. And now that most of us have had our schools closed, we now deal with another impending problem: Boredom. Our arch-nemesis during holidays and our dream during school time. Now that we have so much free time, what will we do now?

Well, this is a nice time to review our yearly goals or resolutions. You know, that list you wrote the first week of January. It's ok if you can't find it. We all can't, except we typed it, so you're not alone. And if you can, then good for you. Either way, this is a good time to sit and review. This can be your quarterly review if you have been trying to reach goals. How are you doing? Do you think you'll be able to finish at the end of this year at your pace? Do you need to pick things up? Are you really trying but found out it's more complicated than you thought? Do you need to break things down into easier steps? If you got sidetracked or discouraged, it's totally fine. You still have 9 whole months and some days left. Now try to think about why you were discouraged in the first place. Was it because you lost the vibe or were no longer interested? Or was it just messy? Maybe you did not do enough research on what you needed to get started. Or is it school?

One too many times, we overestimate what we can accomplish during the new year because we sometimes don't account for the time taken by school work, and then when we start, we're forced to choose between our schoolwork or our life goals. What if our goals are academic and those midterms already made the best of us, well this can be the time to focus on your comeback strategy, not just to read for 12 hours a day but to study yourself and find out what makes you, not your study group or best friends more productive. Do you like the music on, or do you like to stay out in the compound where there is fresh air? Do you have a shorter attention span, so you need to take 5-minute breaks every 30 minutes? Are you a day or night person? This is the time to study yourself and discover what works for you. Then try that system, and if it works, plan how to incorporate it into your actual school time.

Conclusion: You started this year with some goals. Remember your 2020 Vision. There will be obstacles when you are trying to reach your goals, like our friend COVID-19. This is the time to return to the drawing board, evaluate yourself, and strategize with an even better comeback.

"Please, I'm not the goals person; I need to be distracted now."

Ok, I got you. What if you have already evaluated your goals or are doing just fine? After all, you can't evaluate goals 24/7. What can you do in between to keep yourself sane? I know that most of us are bummed because we can't see our friends or go out, but it's not the end of the world. There's always social media. You can always talk to them, facetime, and stuff. Sorry, I'm not that much of an outside person, so I may not have that many options, but there are many social media apps, so I'm sure you guys can work out something. And for the home lovers, well, dare I say, you're in your element.

There's a lot of stuff that you can do: learn a new skill like knitting, cooking a new dish, or rapping. You could also learn a new language (well, you can try, but think wouldn't it be cool to understand people that you never could before?), watch movies, and watch things that you probably didn't have time to do before, like documentaries. Plant something. (crops are interesting, and many grow in a short period, like maize, beans, or yam (sidenote, you will need an open space for your yam and maize and maybe beans because those things that grow tall or crawl everywhere(that's the beans). What about reading books (and it does not have to be Wattpad if you're bored; there are many free libraries like b-ok.org (try reading a new genre like history, sci-fi, or travel or ask for author recommendations from your nerdy friends, you might like them).

Writing short stories is also cool. We all have stuff we want to say, now is the right time to write them down. We all have our stories to share, and some of us are born authors, so now is the time to nurture those talents. Remember, people like Adichie started in college. You could also educate yourself on something like girl child education or the history of rap music. The choices are endless. Don't worry if you don't want to read long Wikipedia pages. Many documentaries or TED Talks on YouTube or other streaming platforms like Netflix or Disney+. Sidenote, you should check your mail. Many stream companies are giving out free trials or discounted rates till April or May because of the lockdown.

And if you're still not satisfied and must see people, you can be that neighborly person that helps others get what they need. Many teens and young adults are volunteering to shop or cook for their fellow elderly neighbors who may not want to go outside or who are at high risk of contracting the virus. You could also make last-minute trips to orphanage homes and other homes for the disabled. During these times, when people start panic-buying, most centers like these often get most of their donations during the festive seasons and may be low on stock and money. This would be a nice time to give them groceries so they can afford to stay at home or have enough if the stores around are empty. Often in times like these, people always think of themselves a lot. It's okay to want to be prepared, but over-hoarding products because you can afford them, makes them scarce for those who can't. And this puts them at higher risk of having low immune systems due to malnourishment and poor hygiene from lack of food and cleaning products, making them easy targets for the virus.

At the end of the day, we hoard. The less privileged get the virus and spread it, so we have more cases so we continue to stay at home and hoard while the virus keeps spreading, leading to a disastrous cycle.

Conclusion: Everything is a cycle, so let's act with compassion.

And for the believers, this is not the time to spread fear, especially not you guys. This is the time to gather and spread hope, peace, and joy. Whatever religion you practice, every upholds spreading good values, so this is the perfect time to do that. Pray, fast, and don't gather for night vigils. Instead, have them separately in your houses. Frankly, anyone gathering for anything not of Category 5 importance is doing more good than harm, no matter the reason for the gathering. All the values that your religion upholds, such as loving your neighbor as yourself or doing everything in love, should be practiced now. When you're in the store with two items left, don't take both except you need them. Leave the other one.

One phrase I often hear is secure the bag. Well, I'm sorry to say that you can't secure anything. It's true. Trying to secure everything is telling God that you've got this. Telling Him to step aside. Telling Him you're the one with the plan. If you trust Him, let Him have the wheel. Let him provide. Don't try to be your provider out of fear. Timothy says he has not given us a spirit of fear but of love, power, and a sound mind. AKA make rational decisions. What about "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you but to give you hope and a future." All these are popular verses that we like to quote. Let's now live them. You can't say I'm a Christian and act exactly like others. If so, what makes you different? You can't say you believe if you don't trust who you believe. God will not bring you up to this point to leave you stranded. It's not in his nature, so chill and be calm in the middle of the storm. Listen to Oceans by Hillsong and enjoy this time.

Images from Dan Black, Conscious Resistance, and Still Point

Trust me, guys; there's a lot we can do if we sit and think, except you want to clear the store or garage. Just saying😉

Thanks for reading, everyone. Remember to drop those comments.

Stay safe and keep washing those hands. Peace✌🏾