Life Emergency
“911” as we all know is the number that you call when you have an emergency – a fire, a medical problem, a burglary, etc. Am I the only one who thinks that there should be a number you call when you have a “life emergency”? What constitutes a life emergency? Well, it’s probably different for everyone.
A life emergency is some sort of a crisis that requires us to act and to act, NOW. This could mean getting laid off from your only job (IN THIS ECONOMY!) or it could mean that you, for whatever reason, have 30 days to look for a new apartment… A life emergency is anything that involves life’s unexpected turns, but one that is unpleasant and requires a solution FAST!
Take a second and think about your last life emergency. How did you handle it?
Well, I began mine by calling my mother. Her response in these situations is typically to call our network of family priests and books masses (#Catholicproblems). Then I put on “All we can do is keep breathing,” by Ingrid Michaelson on repeat. (That song has seen me at my worst I tell you!). Then I write in my crimson “Life Notebook” that I carry with me everywhere. I make two columns: “Things I can control” and “Things I can’t control.” At the top of the Things I can’t control list, I put “God is in charge.” At the top of the “Things I can control” list, I put “Kovie is in charge.”
Recently, due to circumstances beyond my control, I have had to step up what I call “my stable job” search. I cannot put “Kovie is in charge.” Sounds detailed, doesn’t it? Well, it is because I recently have just had a life emergency and taking the high road just got a lot more complicated.
I can’t go into too much detail as the situation does not involve solely my professional and personal life but others as well as. And as comfortable as I am in airing my professional grievances; as someone who is private in some respects, I respect what others choose to keep private.
I made my list and I realized my “Things I can control,” has a lot more on it than my “Things I cannot control” list. Therefore, I have gone to work – more applications, more networking, more everything and 10X better!
WHY am I telling you this?! Because in life emergencies, as much as we would love to break down and cry, the word, EMERGENCY, suggests that it is no time to cry. If you must cry, do it while you WORK on moving forward. Since when did panicking do anyone any good?
Even in our life emergencies, our resolve should be strong, our goals clear and our actions as calculated as we can possibly achieve.
Why did I come up with a “life emergency” process? Because in the words of Aristotle, “excellence is a habit, not an act.” And if I know full well that this current life emergency is not going to be my last one, so I damn well better resolve to be excellent – even in these situations.
Believe it or not, there IS a positive to life emergencies: we quickly discover how thick-skinned we really are. We find out how thick-skinned we need to become. Pressure is sometimes exactly what we need to achieve difficult things. We also tend to find out which people around us are really there when it comes down to the wire because I assure you that a life emergency is seldom conquered by a sole individual.
Perhaps the greatest thing about a “life emergency” is that just like any other life occasion, it eventually passes.
I want to know: what was your most recent life emergency and how did you handle it? I assure you myself and people reading this need all the help we can get.
Cheers,
Kovie
