The ongoing events of the past few weeks about the COVID-19 pandemic made me think about a concept I had written about when it comes to Climate Change but had not in awhile. Resiliency is the ability to address and recover from a crisis or some difficulty.

A word that comes to mind for resiliency is change. Think about what likely all of us has begun to do over these past few weeks. We’re much more cognizant of the need to wash hands, no longer shake hands or kiss or hug, use hand sanitizers, clean your phones, keyboards, bannisters, etc. Even the most antiseptic person among us has probably stepped up their routine about cleanliness. For everyone, this represents a sudden, major change in your lifestyle. And as we see in the news, some people are going against the health experts and not making the necessary changes. Another example is work. So many people will have to change the way they do business, who they serve or sell to, how they make a living and, of course, where they work (such as suddenly having to work from home). How will people show resiliency and change?

Another important aspect of resiliency is perspective, realizing that a crisis that one is in is, although painful, something that will subside in time and allow normalcy to return. When it comes to COVID-19, we are seeing of stories of people panicking, hoarding supplies they don’t need, not doing things that need to be done on the assumption that they will catch the virus and die. Part of being resilient is to realize that the difficulties you face are temporary, something you have to adjust to, but preparing to go back to life as it was before and not panic. Those that put matters in perspective, look at the medium- and long-term future and make rational decisions for themselves and loved ones to survive the crisis and come out better for it will more likely survive and thrive.

Finally, another important aspect of resiliency is listening, listening to information. When one is in a crisis, one does not know who or what to listen to. Well-meaning advice may come from many sources but may not be right for you. The resilient person is one that listens to the different pieces of advice of different people during a crisis, sorts out which ones make the most sense, disregards quickly the foolish ones, and then picks one and re-assesses and re-calibrates and potentially changes the strategy based on results and the future of the crisis. The resilient one keeps calm, listens to many voices, and chooses the one he/she thinks is best, but with an open mind to change if need be.

Change. Perspective. Listening.  All important traits to resiliency, which is the way we can survive the current COVID-19 crisis and future Climate Change calamities in both our personal/family lives and society. Be strong and resilient!

CCES can be contacted at karell@CCESworld.com or at 914-584-6720. We are there for you.