Life is full of change. Some of these changes are happy ones—we get married, we have babies, we get new jobs. However, some of these changes are ones we do not want to happen and that throw our lives into disarray. Some of the worst changes that happen in our lives are due to illness or accidents. Depending on the severity of the illness or injury, this change can often be life-altering and very difficult to recover from. Working with the right people to help you manage these life changes is extremely important. Whether a full recovery is possible or whether you need to learn to deal with the condition in some way, shape or form for years to come, working with those who are skilled in the area and can help is key. In addition, pre-planning before the worst happens can be one of our biggest defenses against the unknowns in life. While we cannot know what the future brings, we can try to take preventive measures so that we are prepared if they do.
Insurance Agents
Insurance agents really can serve you best BEFORE an unplanned life change happens. Having the proper insurance policies in place can save you enormous amounts of money and stress and have a huge impact on how you recover from an unplanned incident.
Health insurance is imperative should an injury or illness occur, auto insurance is very important in the occurrence of a car accident and life insurance is crucial if a spouse is lost (especially if the other spouse was dependent on their income).
The best thing you can do when it comes to insurance is to work with an agent who is right for you. “Start with an independent agent and ask how many companies they represent,” advises Nikki Watts with Watts Insurance Group. “Then if they represent a fair number of companies, go ahead and get a quote from them. Make sure you know what companies you were quoted with so you don’t get repeat quotes. Then you deal with one person and it can be a one-stop shop for all your insurance needs including home, auto, business, life and health and they have more options to choose from and be able to tailor the perfect plan for the client.”
Wondering which types of insurance you should never be without?
Auto Insurance: This one is obvious because it is illegal to drive in the U.S. without some form of auto insurance. If you are looking to save some money, do your homework and talk to your agent about finding the best rate or consider having only liability instead of full coverage (if your vehicle is paid off and this is an option). You can also save money on your monthly premium by going with a higher deductible. Do not go cheap on the liability portion of your coverage, though. If you cause an accident and someone becomes paralyzed because of your negligence, an attorney will take you to the cleaners without proper liability insurance.
Health Insurance: There are plenty of people between the ages of 18-30 who do not have health insurance. Yes, it can be expensive, but you need to have some sort of policy. One semi-major accident or illness and you will be paying medical bills for the next 10 years.
Property Insurance: This coverage applies to renters and homeowners. IF you own a home or a townhouse/condo, then you need to have a homeowner’s policy. The standard homeowner’s policy is the most bang for your buck in terms of what it covers as an insurance policy. It covers your home for everything unless specifically excluded like flood. It covers your personal property anywhere in the world, and it gives you liability coverage if someone sues you for being liable for something that happened to them.
It’s your biggest asset and you need to protect it. If you rent, you need to have a renter’s policy. It covers your belongings for things like theft, water damage, fire and lightning. It also has some liability coverage built into it as well. A renter’s policy is literally $10-$15 per month.
Long-Term Disability Insurance
This is the one that most people do not think about and therefore seldom purchase. This especially goes for younger people because they like to think that nothing can happen to them. The fact is that accidents happen all the time, and you need to protect yourself if something tragic happens and you are no longer able to work. Long-term disability insurance kicks in when you injure yourself and are unable to go back to work for an extended period of time or never. It supplements the income you would have earned. This insurance is rated largely on your occupation, so the rates would be quite different if you have a desk job versus a job in the field in the construction industry.
Life Insurance
Life insurance is critical when you have a family. How are they going to continue if you are gone? Will your spouse be able to keep the house? Will the kids be able to go to college? These are the things you need to consider when you are considering life insurance. Even if you don’t have a family that depends on you, life insurance is still a good idea to take care of any debts you may have and funeral and burial costs so that you don’t have to burden your parents or siblings with these issues.
Assisted Living Professionals
“Often times, an illness or an injury can create or bring about a need for assisted living,” states Sara Engelhaupt with The Lexington. “An injury or illness can signify that a person is not having their daily needs met fully and could benefit from more assistance. An example is if someone has a fall because they became dizzy due to a lack of proper nutrition or maybe they did not take their medications properly. These are needs that can be met by an assisted living community who can ensure they eat properly or take the appropriate medicines at the right times. The illness or injury often brings to light the actual needs of the individual.”
Assisted living communities are generally thought of when thinking of the elderly, but this isn’t always the case. They can also be beneficial for younger individuals trying to recover from an illness or injury and cannot take care of themselves in their own home.
Hearing Loss Professional
“Hearing loss is often very gradual and goes unnoticed,” explains Dr. Sandra Miller with Complete Hearing. “When people cannot hear well, they withdraw from social settings, become anxious or depressed and often feel isolated from conversations. One of the major life changes that impacts hearing loss is changes in an individual’s health or diagnosis. Heart disease and diabetes are directly linked to decreases in hearing.”
If hearing loss does occur, it’s very important to get help as soon as possible. “Many people hesitate taking the first step,” says Dr. Miller. “Getting a hearing test does not mean you have to get a hearing aid. It simply provides us a baseline to go from. If hearing loss is present, we can talk about listening strategies to help in the most challenging environments, or provide an out of office demonstration to see if a boost in sound is what the individual needs. The solution for hearing loss depends on the cause, the severity of the loss and what type of device would best fit an individual’s lifestyle. Less than 20% of hearing loss can be treated medically with surgery or medication. A hearing device is chosen based on an individual’s needs. Counseling regarding the use and care of the device, as well as expectations are also completed to ensure the patient’s success in their own environments.”
Life or Business Coaches
Navigating the changes that occur in everyone’s lives, whether planned or not, is a challenge and one that you need not go through alone. Of course, we all lean on friends and family and other loved ones during times of change, but we should also consider getting some non-biased, outside help from a professional who has been trained to help those in situations such as yours. Life coaches are just these people.
“In coaching, we use a set of tools which help the client identify what is truly important to them and identify who they truly are,” says Nanette Gingery with Next Step Coaching. “This sets the foundation for connecting how we are living our lives (our behaviors and actions) to our authentic self, which in turn leads to life fulfillment. Transitional times can be confusing, unsettling and shake us to the core to the point where we are questioning who we are, what we want and how to move forward. The coaching tools are just the beginning. The coach is an objective observer who supports the client in a process of self-discovery as they become aware of how they see themselves and their life, where they might be limiting themselves, areas for change and growth and discover the possibilities in their life.”
Choosing the right coach for your needs is imperative. This is a person who you will become very close with and who you will need to be sharing the most inner parts of your personality, thoughts, feelings and life with to make the most out of the coaching experience. Choosing this person can be very daunting, but Nanette has some advice: “My first suggestion would be to choose a coach who has the education and credentialing to be a coach. The International Coaching Federation (ICF) is one such credentialing entity. In this technological age, someone seeking a coach can do so through the Internet. Choose a coach based upon the above criteria. After that, it boils down to who seems to be a good match for you. Read web content, coach biographies and blogs to see if anything resonates with you. Also, the local Chamber of Commerce or local business associations (such as LIBA) can be helpful.”
Nanette concludes with this: “Please seek out the support you need. You don’t have to go through difficult transitions alone.
Utilizing a coach can mean the difference between struggling for years through a transition or moving through it with clarity, focus, ease and grace in a short amount of time. Use this transition time as an opportunity to discover more about yourself and grow. Be willing to open up to the possibilities for your life that this transition has given you.”
Mental Health Provider
“Life is full of changes,” says Christine Rothwell, PLMHP, APPIC intern with Premier Psychiatric Group. “Whether good or bad, life changes can create stress as an individual adapts to new circumstances. Unplanned life changes in particular can be stressful periods in one’s life. Without having had an opportunity to plan for such a change, individuals may find that they are struggling with feelings of sadness, anxiety, or anger. At these times, it is important to use positive coping strategies to manage and process one’s emotions and successfully navigate through the life change. Healthy coping strategies may include turning to family and friends for support, exercising, getting adequate sleep, engaging in hobbies, and using humor and positive thinking. At times of great stress, however, normal means of coping may fail and individuals may turn to unhealthy coping methods, such as withdrawing from friends and family, overeating, or abusing drugs or alcohol. Unhealthy coping methods may provide temporary relief, but ultimately create more problems and exacerbate the stressful period.
If you are struggling to cope with an unplanned life change, it is important to seek professional help. Scheduling an appointment with a mental health provider will help you become aware of your treatment options and determine which options are best for your particular needs. The mental health provider may recommend beginning therapy. Working with a therapist provides an opportunity to process and make sense of your emotional reactions to the unplanned life change. A therapist can help you cope with the life change and move forward in a healthy and productive way. After completing treatment, individuals often experience less emotional stress in reaction to future life changes and are able to cope with these changes in healthier ways.
Given your particular symptoms and concerns, your mental health provider might also recommend additional treatment modalities. One treatment option is medication management, which can be helpful in reducing symptoms of anxiety or improving overall mood. Individuals who are interested in medication management should speak with a psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse practitioner to determine if starting a medication regimen would be appropriate. Your mental health provider might also recommend beginning Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) or Neurofeedback. These treatments alter the functioning of the brain to improve treatment-resistant depression and other mental health problems.
Unplanned life changes present new challenges, but they can also be an opportunity for growth. By using healthy coping methods, employing support systems, and utilizing mental health services when needed, you can not only survive these life changes but use them as an opportunity for personal growth and development.”
Addiction Specialist
Unfortunately, some people have a tough time dealing with life’s changes and end up turning to drugs or alcohol to cope. Getting professional help right away is of the utmost importance when it comes to these issues. Addiction specialists can help you with a number of programs, both inpatient and outpatient, so you can recover and move on with your life.
Pre-Planning Specialist
One change that all of us will experience (but that no one really wants to think about) is death. While the reality of it is planned, the time when it will happen is the unplanned part that people struggle with. Planning for your death may seem morbid or that you are expecting the worst, but it truly is the opposite. Pre-planning your funeral and burial details is the best thing you can do for you peace of mind and the peace of mind of your family. Take into account the following story from Bryan Block with Butherus, Maser & Love Funeral Home:
Why am I so adamant about people making pre-need funeral arrangements? Let me share with you two short stories that took place in my life over the 4th of July weekend, 2011. One dear couple that have been family friends for years despite the miles between us has had a tough time recently because the wife has been suffering through Parkinson ’s disease. The children and friends always said “Thank goodness her husband is there to take care of her.” The start of July he passed away unexpectedly and they had not made any funeral plans. His wife was in no condition to make these decisions and the children were at a loss about how to proceed. Mom and Dad had never discussed this with them and they had no idea where to start. After the service they said they wish they would have thought to call me for guidance on how to proceed – they felt they didn’t get what their dad would have wanted and that they probably spent more than their father would have wanted them to. In addition to losing dad, they now had to figure out how to care for mom and everything was complicated and slowed because of the holiday weekend they were working around. If ‘Murphy’s Law’ can be applied to funeral arrangements, this family was meeting Murphy head on.
The second friend I lost over the holiday weekend was single with considerable assets. He died intestate and without having made any funeral or cemetery arrangements. Why his business lawyer would leave him exposed like this is beyond me, but stranger things have happened. Over the years, we had discussed a number of times the type of funeral/burial that he wanted and where he wanted to be buried. With no arrangements made in advance, his next of kin was in charge and I feel I can say with certainty that my friend is not resting in the cemetery he intended nor will he have the headstone that he envisioned. He was unable to have a voice in the arrangements and I feel bad that he was unable to have arrangements carried out in the manner he would have liked.
I feel I need to scold people sometimes because it simply boils down to this: Take the responsibility that is YOURS and make these arrangements so someone else doesn’t have to. Even if you don’t care what type of service you have, make that decision so someone else isn’t left scratching their head on a holiday weekend wondering if they did the right thing. Is that the last memory you want them to have of you?
Life is full of changes and many of them can be very difficult to deal with and cause enormous stress on us and those who we are closest to. By making as many pre-plans as possible to account for the unknown and working with the correct professionals once one of these changes does occur, we can manage them as best as we can and hopefully get on with our lives.