Motivational Monday #46 - Seize Control...Where You Can

For the first time in a long time, the weather man may actually have the most interesting job on the nightly news. I have lost count of the number of tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis and fires we have seen in the last year.  Just yesterday a tornado ripped a town in two.  They already have 89 casualties, and they aren't done looking.  You can imagine the new storm forming has them a little worried.

Many of us may look around and say, "Well, I don't live in tornado alley, or earthquake county, or in a flood plain...." Maybe that is true, but mother nature has an amazing ability to find "issues" in every region.  As many people know right now, a broken dam can mean massive flooding. A broken pipeline can disrupt water services and utilities. Earthquakes can damage buildings, roads and utilities. Drought can reduce crop yield, while too much rain can erode hillsides and foundations.

I guess what I am saying, is that Mother Nature has a plethora of ways to ruin your day.  Nice gal, huh?

So what do we do about it?  How do we keep our family safe but be practical at the same time?  I don't think sleeping in a rowboat tied to your backdoor is a practical way to protect against flooding, nor do I think sleeping in your bathtub is a practical way to protect against tornadoes.

There are some things we have control over, and other things we do not. The disasters I mentioned above fall into the "do not" category, so let's look at what we do have control over.

1. The Plan - We all have control over our own plans.  We can decide what is important to us and what we intend to do in an emergency. All plans may not work in all situations, but we have control over the plans we make.
2. The Supplies - We can decide what we need in each situation. We have control over the quality and quantity of equipment we want and the amount to purchase.
3. The Support - We decide where we are going for help, where we will shelter and how we will "ride out" the emergency.
4. The People - We decide the people we will be responsible for and how we will support them.

So while watching the news, I suggest we take a look at what we do have control over, and focus our energies there.  Hopefully the weather man will never be standing in your town talking about the devastation, but if he is, I hope you were able to do everything possible to keep your family safe.