Morale

Morale can affect how we live including our decisions, quality of sleep and interactions with others. It impacts our very desire to live.

Groups function and work together far better when its members feel better. Keeping morale high is easier than raising it, once it is low.

Low morale or poor personal spirits in your family/group can cause dissention, anger, hostility, belligerence, loss of willingness to live, and can even lowered resistance to disease. When the family or team’s morale falls, arguments start, and dysfunction encroaches. Relationships suffer with low morale. Low morale can be as dangerous as any disease caused by microorganisms. As with physical illnesses, the sooner poor morale is recognized and corrective action taken, the easier it is to remedy the situation.

During the “good times,” it is pleasant to be in the company of a group that practices healthy interactions. When we are forced into close contact or confinement, it is paramount that we practice civility, graciousness, and sociability. The time to practice and foster these skills is when life is “normal.” When disaster strikes – even the everyday disaster of your teenager’s next personal challenge – these skill will play an important role in your family surviving intact and healthily.

Communication skills are fundamental to the effects of morale. How we talk with ourselves (self-talk) and with others, will seriously influence how people get along. More important than how we talk to others is: How do we listen? Our self-talk shapes how and what we think. How we speak and listen to others affects everyone. Weaknesses in and how we communicate and in our general interactions will be more pronounced in stressful environments. Consider hiring a coach to improve your skills.

Beliefs are another fundamental aspect of good morale. We must believe that things will improve. We must have faith that our skills, planning, and just dumb luck will pull us through. Giving up is the start of decline. In other words, “Never say die, until you are dead.” Believe! If you don’t believe, then for the sake of your family, fake it. Focus on favorable possibilities and outcomes. Make it happen!

Fun, fun, fun. Have fun! Laughter and merriment will lighten a dark environment. Distractions; books, games, and simple tasks (hobbies) can act as distractions in order to keep your family from dwelling negatively on a possibly desperate situation. Keep a deck of cards in your evacuation gear. Other games can be played or created if you have dice, buttons, toothpicks, pad of paper and pencil or other simple items. Find and keep a book of simple games in your gear. Having “No phone, no light, no motor car, not a single luxury” may prove to be a tremendous opportunity for family bonding or it may tear it apart.

Comfort food is always … comforting, but of course, not to extremes. It may be a good idea to have in your emergency gear some chocolate, popcorn or healthy high energy food bars that will liven even the most depressed chocolate lover’s mood. In real life, we all know the dangers of turning to food for an emotional quick fix. In a disaster, use all resources to keep spirits high.

Food is only one minor way to create comfort. Physical comfort is very important to morale. As any biker will tell you, having a good high quality slicker suit in a rain storm will make the difference between a disastrous ride and a story in the making. Experienced campers and backpackers know good sleeping gear can make or break an outing. Take care to make plans for your physical comfort. Planning is everything. Preparation without planning is just guess work - sometimes you hit it right, sometimes not.

Morale is affected by emotional, mental and physical stimuli. Keeping your spirits up with games, distractions and hobbies is a start. Staying comfortable is important especially for longer durations. A clear head is vital. During times of physical, mental and emotional stress it may become challenging to make quality decisions. Good decisions are not possible if your mental processes are degraded with chemicals, anger, fear or low morale. Keeping your head clear is paramount to making good decisions. Good decisions are necessary to survival.

The leaders of any group have responsibilities. Whether the group is work, home, family, civic group, or a religious organization, you are at the very least responsible for yourself. When you take on a leadership role as boss, parent, chairperson, minister, you take on added responsibilities for the wellbeing of others.

I like to remember the quote of Gene Rodenberry’s Spock when he said, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” But that is only part of the picture. I would like to add, “The desires of the many do not supplant the rights of the one.”

As a leader it is important you recognize the difference between “want versus want” and “want versus right.” Any living organism has the right to try to survive. Staying alive while losing our humanity is not true “survival.” Our humanity must withstand all situations, for when we loose our humanity there is little else worth keeping.

For more detailed life saving information please read the Emergency Disaster Preparedness & Survival manual.

For information on using this manual as a fundraiser, click here.

Gerald lives with his wife, Lyn on their remote farm in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. A highly trained volunteer firefighter and fire service instructor, since 1989, and currently volunteers with his local fire department. He is a wilderness survival and primitive living skills expert, an Eagle scout and an adult scout leader.

Gerald's book Emergency Disaster Preparedness & Survival can be purchased on line with our secure website at www.EmergencyDisasterPreparedness.info

or

by calling 800-524-9014.

Gerald also provides consulting on your preparedness issues.

Things To Do This Season:

Winter is here, update your automobile kit. Page(113)

Update personal evacuation bag. Page (106)

Tip:

When installing snow chains on vehicle, use rubber straps to assist removing the slack.

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