The Ukraine Crisis: What it Means For You

“Every day waiting for the sky to fall, Big crash on a world that’s so small.”

 -Dave Grohl

That’s a line from the Foo Fighters song “Waiting On A War” and it’s been on my mind a lot in the last week. 

The Covid-19 pandemic started more than two years ago and it’s brought a whole host of problems along with it: job loss, shortages of all kinds of products, protests, and inflation. It feels like we’ve been waiting for the sky to fall ever since.

Like everyone else in the world, you’ve probably been hearing about the situation in Ukraine. For months Russia has been stationing soldiers along the border with Ukraine: a looming threat.

This morning, the war we’ve been waiting on, unfortunately, arrived.

President Putin addressed his country a little before 6 AM local time to announce a special military operation. Shortly after, missile strikes were launched and the troops along the border started entering Ukraine.

A full-scale invasion began.

Since then, military targets have been attacked and destroyed. Areas of Ukraine are now under Russian control. Worst of all Ukrainian troops and civilians have already lost their lives.

Our prayers go out to them and their families.

The U.S. and its allies have been trying to de-escalate the situation, obviously, with no luck. Following the attack, a new wave of retribution was announced in the form of sanctions—an attempt to dissuade further action—but the conflict seems far from being over.

War is a big word.

It’s a scary word.

To some of us, it’s foreign. Unknown.

And right now there are a lot of unknowns. We don’t know how long this conflict will last or how it will end.

We don’t know how it will affect us here, half a world away.

Inflation is already at a 40-year high. We’re still recovering from the effects of Covid-19. Crude oil has surpassed $100 a barrel. Gas prices have already started to rise. What’s next? What piece of the sky is waiting to fall?

We don’t know.

In “Waiting On A War” the singer asks

“Is there … more to this than just waiting on a war?”

Right now, it may not feel like it, but the answer is “yes”. There  is more to life than waiting on a war. There’s more than waiting for the newest crisis or the latest emergency.

Now is not the time for fear.

It’s a time for resilience. It’s an opportunity to show that we haven’t been beaten by our circumstances.

It’s a reminder of the need for planning and preparedness. It’s time to make sure those you love are taken care of and are ready to face the future.

You might be asking how to prepare or what to prepare for. You might be thinking it’s too late or it’s too expensive or any number of other reasons not to do it. But now is the time to put those doubts aside.

How do you prepare? One step at a time, and we’re here to help.

I know there are a lot of unknowns right now. But in the middle of it all, there is one thing Idoknow. It will all be ok.

Delays stop.

Shortages work themselves out.

Prices balance.

Crises are handled.

Wars end.

Let’s not be defined by our fear. Instead, let’s use this moment to push us to preparedness and peace of mind.

Take your first step towards preparedness by creating an emergency checklist.

Written by: Eitan Mizrahi