I think most of the time we think of a crisis as a quick and temporary event. A crisis is something like, a natural disaster. Maybe an accident or attack of some kind. We rarely think of a crisis as a long term event. We think, if we can just get through it it’ll be OK. It’s just temporary. In some ways that’s true, but in the case of COVID-19, it’s much more marathon than sprint. It will end, but not as quickly as we all thought. Which means that we are living during a crisis much more than we are living through a crisis. This means that all the instructions I wrote last week, have to keep happening. The information continues to change and we have to continue to react. The government continues to move slowly in getting help to its constituents so it’s a long slog of keeping an eye on congress to see if they can help or not.
As it becomes more apparent that this pandemic is going to last not just longer than the initial few weeks we were promised, but longer even than the summer which we had sacrificed, I know I need to make even more adjustments. The people who used to be our top demographic (busy parents with children) are not likely to remain there. Now we need to pivot to focus on healthcare workers and other who are unable to work from home. That’s a whole new ball game. It’s doable but challenging. All of this must be done while continuing to stay informed on current events to make sure that you don’t miss vital information.
While it’s true that most of us will get through this, we’ve been thrown into a marathon with no training before hand. We also don’t know how long it will last. This means that we’re continuing to live in crisis management mode which is a stressful place to be.
A bit of a short post today just acknowledging the challenges of this particular crisis. Do your best friends, ask for help if you need it. Keep moving forward.