Are you prepared for COVID-2023? Answer 5 simple questions to know if you are!!
COVID-19 was a sh*** F***. It F***ed all humanity inside-out. Many of us saw our loved ones taken away by COVID-19. We saw misery, and we saw constraints. We saw so much uncertainty in our future that there were some deaths due to just aggravated fear of COVID-19.
We learned the biggest lesson of our generation.
Due to our Biological weakness, human beings are very susceptible to major infections, which can turn our lives upside down.
We all saw some sense of normalcy in the midst of 2022.
But, many of us are up all night, troubled by the same uncertain question, “ What if COVID returns in 2023?”, “Are we prepared to face the same beast?” “IS my employer prepared?”, “Is the economy prepared?”
“Where and how will we live during those times without giving up most of the social relationships and interactions?”
But before you start freaking out and run into the rabbit hole of all that can go bad in any foreseeable COVID-2023, there are 5 very BASIC questions you need to ask yourself to know your readiness.
1. Are you following the COVID trends?
During the early days of COVID in 2019, I was following the news at CNN, Bloomberg, FOX, etc, and was pretty much driven insane by the impact of the fearful delivery of the news.
As many of us know that the news is mostly influenced by politics, and the two-faced nature of each news channel made it extremely difficult for me to trust the numbers and warnings shown again and again.
After being scared and afraid for almost a month, I decided to turn it off. I decided to track it online via legitimate sites such as WHO.
The COVID-19 stats and graphs published by WHO helped me track COVID in my country, state, and region. I often look at— https://covid19.who.int, to know the truth, rather the listen to the hype.
This helped me plan for the future and sort of predict when the spectacle will end.
Following are the stats as of 9th December 2022. As you can see the numbers speak for themselves. Towards the right-end-tail of the graph, you will notice the covid numbers slowly decreasing.
We need to keep an eye out for any slow rise or a sudden uptick in this graph. That would be a cause for alarm.
The graph above shows aggregated numbers across all regions. You can also track your region, to be aware of your locality.
2. Do you keep a Buffer of everyday-use Items?
When adversity hits, you will notice many grocery stores run out of essential items. I had to often pay extra in online stores even for simple items. This taught me a good life lesson.
No matter what, I always keep a buffer of 2 weeks for everyday usage items such as milk, bread, frozen fruits, frozen vegetables, and a set of 6 quick meals.
I also make sure that an additional pack of each of the non-perishables is always stocked up in my storage, whether it’s a toilet-cleaner liquid or a dish-washing liquid.
You can also start keeping some buffer for essential items. I also keep condensed milk, just to have uninterrupted coffee during those unplanned work-from-home days.
3. Do you plan your emotional well-being?
Plan social and emotional wellness activities and events with friends or family
One of the main struggles during COVID-19 was maintaining a healthy set of social interactions. Team up with friends and family members to rely on each other during times of misery. Every social interaction helps in maintaining good emotional well-being.
Though most of us live in nuclear families, it’s more important now than ever, to create long-lasting family and friendship ties that you can rely on, especially in the times of future COVIDs.
4. Are you ready to take any financial HIT?
Prepare your finance calendar
Many non-IT jobs suffered during COVID. Many people lost jobs and struggled to pay for rent, food, and/or studies. Those were financially tough times. Some people even lost the breadwinner in their family.
Now is the time to take a closer look at your savings and monthly expenses, and plan for adverse times like a loss of job or life. Also, investing in a life insurance plan would be a good option, especially the ones that give “Returns” at maturity.
I started planning for my life insurance to help create a buffer for my loved ones. You will need at least a month of research to ensure this portion is completely and securely taken care of.
5. What is your plan for keeping up hope and positivity, especially, during adverse times?
Pray to God for positivity
Last but not the least, pray to God [ in whichever God-belief system you belong], to keep a positive and healthy mindset.
No matter, what happens, God sends his help with angels in many mysterious ways. Trust his judgment, and trust that he will provide all the help needed in adverse times.
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In the end, I would add that we would hope for the best for 2023, but as a vulnerable species, we will need to prepare and be smart about the unknowns of the future. It’s better to be smart and prepared for tomorrow.
Thanks for reading my post!! God bless you!
