We Have Been Ostriches: It's time we stop burying our heads in the sand.

If nothing else, the COVID 19 pandemic has illustrated the importance of global health and fitness. We have largely ignored the warnings that have been sounding from highly credible sources and great minds like Bill Gates in 2015 and the media like CNN in the Unseen Enemy documentary in 2017. According to Business Insider, at least eleven people in prominent positions seemingly predicted this pandemic.

And it makes sense, regrettably. We have learned in a time of constant bombardment that we must filter what we hear and choose carefully what to believe. Billions of bits of information come at us constantly, and our mind winnows it down to millions. Disregarding information that has never been a personal threat means, that sometimes, important facts get discarded with it. Add the cacophony of input from the media we consume and it's no wonder we are mentally drowning. When messages seem alarmist, it is not unusual for us to consciously dismiss them. This is generally a good practice to avoid anxiety from fear mongering sources, but this blinds us to real threats at the same time.

The dark side is we are now hit smack in the face with a life-threatening virus that credible sources warned years ago was inevitable. Some people are terrified and anxious, others disregard the threat as an irritation to their social life, and most of us are somewhere in the middle, swinging sometime hourly to the extremes of fear and invulnerability.

We are a captive audience to this virus, or should be, if we are not. While under house arrest we are forced to adjust our typical patterns. Yet, we are fighting this. We have been the lobsters getting used to the increasing heat and are now screaming at the toss into the pot. The reality is that we were heading for a pandemic with blinders on, ignoring the warning signs from the road. Sooner or later we were going to have to face it. We have arrived.

What is most disappointing is that, like many disasters, this should not have the magnitude of damage it has. Many deaths were largely preventable with informed awareness and early action. I am reminded of the TEDx Mile High talk by Sarah Tuneberg in 2019 titled “We Know How to Save Lives in Disasters, Why Don’t We?” In her career as a disaster manager, she helped coordinate the response to over 50 presidentially declared disasters and says the key thing she learned was that

"nearly all of the trauma and tragedy we call natural is not only predictable, but it is preventable.”

Tuneberg was so troubled by this she co-founded a company called Geospiza to provide timely data to decision makers.

So, how can we be part of the solution?

First of all, assess where we are.

We need to separate fact from fiction and assess what resources we really have and how to utilize them.

We have been largely acting like stereotypical ostriches, And now we are facing a threat that affects all of us. We are all warriors in this fight. Our battleground is global and we are called to fight smarter, not harder.

The good news is, being an ostrich has advantages. It is actually a myth that ostriches bury their head in the sand. They are actually the largest living species of bird and can run 40 miles per hour and land a powerful kick. They are great at camouflage by impersonating a mound of dirt and work in collaboration to hatch and parent new fledglings. They can live days without water in a desert environment. They are survivors.

So, let’s assess our strengths as survivors and utilize them wisely. We are in a battle without borders.

I am beginning a series on leveraging your biggest asset. We all have one, and there is no need to metaphorically bury it in the sand.

Stay tuned…

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