40,000 Gallons of Resilience
In Florida, we all know the drill. Plywood for your windows, three days of food per person and fill your bathtub with water. Being an overachiever all of my life, I of course have a pantry full of food (okay, so I shop at Costco), I share a commercial generator with my mother who lives next door and I even have a 40,000-gallon bathtub. In Florida we call it a swimming pool.
My 40,000-gallon bathtub is a beautiful thing. It is a gathering place for the family, our own little oasis in the southern heat. It is chlorinated so it stores well and when we have to use it as our emergency water reserve we even have a small filtration and de-chlorination device that keeps the water safe to drink.
But all of this physical preparation is just one small aspect of resilience and resilience is how we all get through life's little and not so little disasters.
Now before we can really discuss resilience we have to understand a few simple definitions. First what is a disaster? A disaster is when your needs exceed your resources. During the holiday shopping season we all run into our own little mini-disasters, it is not uncommon for our wants to exceed our wallets.
Resilience is the opposite of a disaster. Resilience is when your resources exceed your needs. When we are out shopping for the holidays and the cash is low we all have the same call of resilience, "Charge it!"
But even this leaves the majority of resilience unaccounted for. Resilience is far more than physical or even financial resource management. Resilience begs the question how big is the bathtub in your soul?
(Excerpted from my lecture series and book Avoiding Business Disasters: Lessons from the Disaster Field Office)
Related Tags: disaster, recovery, survival, resilience
Dr. Maurice A. Ramirez is co-founder of Disaster Life Support of North America, Inc., a national provider of Disaster Preparation, Planning, Response and Recovery education. Through his consulting firm High Alert, LLC., he serves on expert panels for pandemic preparedness and healthcare surge planning with Congressional and Cabinet Members. Board certified in multiple medical specialties, Dr. Ramirez is Founding Chairperson of the American Board of Disaster Medicine and a Senior Physician-Federal Medical Officer for the Department of Homeland Security. Cited in 24 textbooks with numerous published articles, he is co-creator of C5RITICAL and author of Mastery Against Adversity. Dr. Ramirez invites comments at: http://www.disaster-blog.com
Your Article Search Directory : Find in ArticlesRecent articles in this category:
- Manners, Aikido, And Ki Moments
In a recent Wall Street Journal editorial, columnist Peggy Noonan discussed the disappearance of man - How To Cope With Being Made Redundant
Being made redundant is not just about money and what money can buy. It is often the psychological e - What Are The Side Effects Of Stress
We live in a fast paced world that never seems to sleep. For many people they try to cram as much ac - Feel Better With Stress Management
Stress may be largely thought of as a mental problem,but it does contain its own material manifestat - Help With Stress - A New Effective Technique For Fast Relief
There are many symptoms that sufferers experience when they are dealing with stress, too many to go - How To Relief Stress When Faced With Challenges In Life
The myriad of issues facing us constantly mean we find a good avenue to relief stress. We live a lif - Anxiety Disorders Symptoms - Treatment For Anxiety Disorder
Anxiety disorders symptoms are diverse and include things such as social anxiety, Post-Traumatic Str - Overlooking Data Revenue Could Kill Your Current Campaign!
Most online marketers have access to data but many don't realize the true value in it. NOT monetizin - The Five Step Approach To Managing Anger
If something happens that makes you feel angry (like not being allowed to go to a party until you cl - How Kinesiology Can Help With Stress
Stress is one of the biggest problems in the western world and may be caused by a variety of differe
Most viewed articles in this category:
- No More Stress: Stress Relief Ideas
I hear it everywhere, read it everywhere-everybody's stressed out. The mad rush of daily activities - Feeling Suicidal
The thought has crossed my mind but I am too optimistic about tomorrow and I can't handle my enemies - Getting laid with organic
The ‘organic movement’ has now entered the bedrooms. Organic bedding and mattresses are - Home surveillance equipment - options and tips
Our world is not such a safe place to live in. Crime and robbery is on the rise and hence more and m - An Older Sister's Coping Secret
Being born as the oldest or older sister in a family seems to have a strong impact on our personalit - Stress - Is It Really As Bad For Your Health As You Think?
It has been known for many years that stress can affect your health but we are only now beginning to - 7 Tips for Relaxation
In modern society there are so many pressures on our time and lives that it can seem difficult to be - Panic Attack Self Help
A panic attack is a time of powerful, often momentarily disabling, sense of extreme fear or mental d - Crisis Intervention - What To Do in the Event of a Crisis? Part 2
A crisis is a window of opportunity for spiritual growth. You don't need to be a social worker or co - Toxic Guilt, Healthy Guilt