In times of crisis - panic or breathe? What is your response?

I realize the image to this article is a bit shocking; it was intentional – to get your attention.

Its Monday. Today however was a Monday like no other.

Three kids home, all remote learning. Husband gone to work, and I am hunkered in my office trying to get as much done before the inevitable “mom can you….” bellows throughout my house.

Oddly enough, hours pass; no bellows, no arguments, no log in assistance needed and its quiet. The kind of quiet that if my kids were a tad bit younger would have me nervous. I get up to check on said kiddos and smell what NO ONE wants to smell – smoke.

I take a deep breath, assess the situation check for fire and realize there are no obvious signs of fire YET there is still an ominous smell of burning/ smoke. Oddly calm I start to delegate; you do this, you do that, go check here, put the dogs out, etc.. all while I am on the phone with fire/ police and of course my husband. Even the 7 yr. old had a job – go to the window and listen for the fire trucks.

It’s been a few hours and my blood pressure is finally down and I start to reflect. I had a choice this morning – it was an unexpected crisis. I could panic or I could breathe, assess, delegate and find a solution that kept all calm.

I realized in my professional life I do the same. I am NO emergency response person, but I can certainly navigate a crisis and find solutions to overcome the crisis. This morning it was a potential fire, last week it was a student having a significant issue impacting their performance, a few months ago it was a colleague who needed help on a project, a few years ago it was a co-worker in a medical crisis and of course there is Covid; where we ALL have had to navigate the unexpected and at times crisis situations.

Crises are often overlooked as tremendous opportunities. Opportunities to grow, overcome and triumph. My recent strengthsfinder assessment confirmed what I already knew – I gravitate to problems and can excel in a crisis. I often see solutions before others and can remain calm because of them. It aligns to my life’s work – helping others find solutions.

How many of us have had to do just that this past year? How many have had to pivot, reassess and remain calm when the crisis swirled around us?

As we emerge and follow the light at the end of this pandemic tunnel, I would urge us all to stop and reflect on how we have navigated this crisis; not in judgement but in awe of just how far we have come. To understand what your default is – did you panic, or did you breathe? Did you do both? Ask yourself, how will you whether the next 12-18 months? Will you need to raise your hand and ask for help solving a problem? Will you implement solutions going forward to help you remain calm and bring some semblance of normalcy? How will you reassess the next 12-18 months? Do you need help figuring out how do do that?

Back to my crisis, all is well here – response teams checked and cleared the house – the culprit is an old dryer that now must be replaced (THANK YOU crisis. Now the marriage argument of replacement is null, and void and I get a new dryer – insert happy wife), but it does not take away from the fact that this morning, THIS Monday morning I had an expectation of doing one thing and a crisis had me stop in my tracks, pivot and reassess.

2,900 home fires are caused by dryers annually and each year cause an estimated 5 deaths, 100 injuries and millions in property damage. 34% of these home fires are caused by a failure to clean the dryer and in facilities otherwise known as preventative maintenance. I know in our family we will be ensuring an implementation of a routine preventative maintenance on our dryer going forward (even if it is new; and yes, it WILL be new).