I have heard a number of people talking about the possibility of another lockdown and how they ‘won’t cope if we get locked again’. If you keep thinking like that you are right, you won’t cope. However if you change your perception and thought process into thinking it is inevitable, and prepare your life and mind for it, if and when it happens you will manage just fine. You will cope with the entire process again and save your mental health. That way if we do get locked down again (which is always a possibility), you won’t freak out. If we don’t, it will be a pleasant surprise.

Successful people plan for the worst and hope for the best. Time you do the same. You have already been through the hardest part. You have been through lockdown 1 where we had no idea what we were in for, and survived in all aspects. Lockdown 2 hit, which in some ways was easier and in other ways was harder. You survived that too. Regardless of how tough it was or was not, you survived! We all did! You are much more resilient than you ever imagined.

Now it’s time to get you mentally ready in case it happens again. Prepare yourself. What are your plans for work? Food? Home Schooling? Socializing online? Nutrition? Training? Support? Care for elderly. Get all of these things in order from now. Have a plan of attack. Put some infrastructure in place, just in case. God willing, you will never use it; but it is better safe than sorry.

If you plan ahead, and the dreaded lockdown happens again, mentally you will remain in good stead. If you don’t, the third wave, if it hits, will knock harder than the other 2 waves put together! So be prepared!

Think about this: World War 2 last from 1939 to 1945. Do you think our ancestors who lived through it thought they would survive 6 years of war? Do you think their mental health could ‘cope’? But millions did. Though millions tragically lost their lives, millions more were scarred for life in almost every way, millions survived.

In lock down we are asked to stay home with people we love, in the safety of our homes, with all the best of all conveniences and pass times, an abundance of food, and the luxury of the internet. We are not being sent to war. In Australia, compared to the rest of the world, we are relatively safe even with this virus. Keep all this in mind, as you prepare for the worse and hope for the best. Hopefully the third wave never comes, but it’s good to be prepared.

• Terri