Hello fellow Ohioans!

Are we having fun yet? No, well, there are lots of reasons why we can be strong and tough right now. We have weathered many storms in the past and we will do the same right now. We have been through tornadoes/Xenia, blizzards/Columbus (other parts of Ohio I assume, I was a teen then). We have gone through concert crashing for the Who in Cincinnati. We have been through a terrible shooting at Kent State University. We have lost two policemen in Westerville a few years ago and I am sure that is not the first time policemen have been killed in action in Ohio. We got through all of this because we are Ohio Strong and we are tough Mid-western people who have ancestors from Europe, who were farmers, who are Appalachians from down south, we are strong spiritual people, we are from so many different backgrounds now and so we are a combination of strength, resilience, perseverance. We will look back on this virus very soon as nothing but a memory. We will talk about how we coped, we will show photos of empty shelves and we will tell people what we did during this very uncomfortable and annoying time.

I have been talking to people in my family to check-in – by phone (landline) and see how they are doing. Everyone is coping very well. Most of my family and friends are Hungarian and they have already migrated here after the revolution of 1956 or later. They have crossed borders in the coldest months of the year. They have left behind families and brought with them whatever they could carry to the U.S. I have a family member who took political asylum before the wall came down and had to live in Germany for a year before being admitted in the U.S. I have friends who came here more recently. Being raised in this mindset makes me one tough cookie. “Don’t vorry about us, ve are fine,” they will say to me and this is why I call them because it reminds me to stay strong.

Attitude is a little thing that makes a BIG difference. Winston Churchill

My cousin Maria/Marika, is at Children’s managing a unit in the infectious disease area. She tells me she is being like Churchill right now, commanding her troops and keeping them informed as well as empowering them to be tough and stand strong. I am a psychotherapist for a living. I am channeling Dr. Viktor Frankl who was a psychologist that survived Auschwitz. Dr. Frankl went on to write a great many books about being resilient in times of struggle and unrest. Who better than he could share the answers to this? I am teaching my clients to focus on well-being, safety, and to stay away from the news media and only pay attention to the facts on the science websites. I am encouraging them to look at this as temporary and that this will end soon. If we see a crisis as short-term and take it one day at a time; we can focus on being here and now instead of panicking about an uncertain future.

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. Dr. Viktor Frankl

Women have been in the trenches since time began. Not taking away from men’s roles or their contributions; but we have done this without freedoms. Without being able to have rights to ourselves or our children. We have been on battlefields nursing the wounded. We have been in impoverished areas tending to the sick. We have put the rights of our sisters ahead of our own families and traveled around the country and the world educating others about the rights of women. We have crossed the great divide while our husbands went in search of gold and maintained our families with no income – creatively figuring out how to make money. We have launched campaigns to protect women and children with our prohibition speeches. We have escaped slavery in order to help others escape. There is nothing women haven’t done in history in order to protect, serve, educate, fight, and this virus is not going to stop us now.

It is not going to stop any of us here in Ohio because we are Ohio Strong.

Tips for managing this world war where there is no escape. Though it will end soon.

1. Don’t listen to the news media which is full of propaganda and fear mongering. Listen to Science websites and focus on the FACTS not the possibilities. You can only work with evidence not probabilities.
2. Try not to focus on going into the Black Market business. Unlike WWI and II, we will not be struggling for years with this virus. The shelves will be re-stocked tomorrow. If you don’t need it, don’t buy it.
3. Stay off of social media as much as possible because this is filled with conspiracy theories and fake news.
4. Focus on the safety of your families and doing what is in their best interests. The panic will cause more conflict than the virus and there will be a surge in crime in the coming weeks no doubt. The unemployment rate is much higher and those without work are mostly those with the lowest paying jobs. This is unfortunate but you can’t be in denial. Takes steps to keep your house safe and walk in public with your head held high and very aware of everything around you. I learned this from living in L.A. and never had anything bad happen to me as a single woman.
5. Use this time to be creative in your homes. Dust off your instruments and play some music, sing songs, get out the board games, take a walk in the parks – together, have cooking contests or bake-offs, learn to bake bread, pull out your sewing machine, learn a language online as a family.
6. Wellness is key here and some old family herbs, vitamins, regimes are a good thing to allow to re-surface. Honey is a nice preventative medicine as is vinegar (both by tablespoon once/day). Echinacea is a good treatment when you are feeling a little low. Pull out grandma’s cures and remember her advice. A good pot of chicken noodle soup always does the trick.
7. Prayer and Meditation will help with anxiety and fears. Having faith is one thing that has always kept people in balance.

With every ending comes a beginning. Each time we have faced a crisis things changed as a result. We will learn so much from this time period and we will grow as Ohioans. Let’s let this period be like no other. We will come out on top because again, we are OHIO STRONG. O-H-I-O Never forget and never give up!