This Is An Emergency!

Life can and will be difficult at times. This should not come as a surprise to anyone. So why is it that when tough times come along, the popular response from folks is that of shock and dismay? Did no one tell these people that life would be challenging at times? Did these people grow up in a bubble?

If this applies to you, allow me to be the first one to tell you; Life can be hard. There's no way around it. You will have problems. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. And please don't fall for the whole "There are no problems, there are only opportunities" bit. People have problems, period. People struggle, people suffer and sooner or later, this will apply to you.

Pessimistic? I don't think so. I call it realistic. To think that life will not have some bumps and obstacles along the way is naive and quite frankly, irresponsible. There will always be emergencies in life and to not have an emergency plan in place is a recipe for failure.

Cars get flat tires, kids get sick, appliances break down. And seldom do any of these things ever happen when it's a convenient time.

So what's a person to do? Well, for starters make a plan. Understand that life can and will be difficult and there will be emergencies. Without a plan in place your emergencies will turn into catastrophes real quick. So make a plan!

Since the most obvious target in most emergencies is your wallet, start your plan by creating an emergency fund. How much you should set aside is completely up to you, but you should be setting aside something on regular basis.

Your next step is to prepare for an emergency both mentally and emotionally. Emergencies have a way of getting us all riled up by breaking down our ability to make good decisions. In the heat of a crisis good judgement is often affected by emotional reaction. Your best bet is to divorce yourself from the situation as much as possible and view it for what it is; a situation that needs to be rectified.

Say what you want but when life's challenges pop up, there are few things that can't be solved with a few bucks and a little logic. Store up a reserve of both and you'll find yourself in a much better position to take on the difficulties that can and will spring up.

Lastly, when things go wrong, and they will, remember that life is an incredible teacher. Your job is to be an incredible student. There is nothing better than walking away from a bad situation and learning a good lesson. To have gone through a problem or emergency and not learn something is shameful. To repeat the problem for lack of learning from it the first time around is unacceptable.

The university of life is open to all. It is no respecter of age, color or creed. And sooner or later we all must open the textbook and prepare for the next test. If we have done our due diligence and prepared for the quiz, we are granted a passing grade and can move on to the next life's lesson, which is usually not far away. But if we fail to prepare; if we refuse to learn from our circumstances, then the University has every right to flunk us. And I don't know about you but in the school of life, I have no desire to repeat the grade.