Something like a pandemic leaves us all feeling a bit helpless and defeated. What can we possibly do against an enemy that is literally in the air we breathe? We cannot see the coronavirus with the naked eye. And none of us are walking around with microscopes powerful enough to detect it. We don’t know when it is directly attacking our family. We don’t know which of the people in a 20′ radius of our children is a carrier of the plague. We just send them off to school and hope against hope for the best.

That’s no way to live. That feels more like surrender. While you don’t have a handy way to detect the coronavirus, you are not helpless. There are many things you can do to protect your family. One of the most important things you can do is to persevere. Do not give up on them. They need you more than ever.

You don’t have to be a doctor or a superhero to keep your family safe. That doesn’t mean that nothing bad will ever happen to the people you love. It is inevitable. But when bad things happen, you are strong enough to deal with them as they come. In the meantime, here are some of the things you can do to keep those bad things at bay:

Plan for the Worst

One of the greatest pieces of wisdom you need to live by in a crisis is to hope for the best but plan for the worst. It might not be the coronavirus that takes you. But over a long enough timeline, we all must take a bow and leave the stage. The one thing completely within your control is how your family will be taken care of when that happens.

If you don’t have it already, no one needs to tell you that you need life insurance. You already know that. There might be a few things you don’t know such as, is life insurance taxable? Does being a smoker make you ineligible? How much more will you have to pay if you have a pre-existing condition? These are the kinds of questions you will need to resolve before choosing a policy. But don’t delay in getting those answers and making that choice.

There are too many stories to count where a young, healthy bread-winner passed unexpectedly and left the family with no way to carry on financially. One simple act can guarantee the protection of your family in the face of disaster. Don’t be someone else’s cautionary tale. Be the hero your family deserves.

Don’t Let Your Family Stay Inactive

You also know that it is time to get your family off the couch and back in action — any action. You just need to get creative about getting your family outside. If you don’t have a park in your neighborhood, drive to one in the city. Better yet, take them on a road trip and take a nature walk in the woods. Too cold? Grab a frisbee and do something more active. The grace period for sitting around and doing nothing has passed.

Throw Away the Junk Food

You have let the food situation get out of hand. You have gotten so used to ordering food delivery that you have forgotten how to make a healthy and tasty vegetarian dish from scratch. What you have to do is stop ordering the tacos and throw out the junk food that has accumulated in the fridge and the cabinets.

A lot of people have given themselves an extended grace period for eating poorly. When everything does get back to normal, families are going to find that everyone is 15 lb. overweight and a lot of people will be declared pre-diabetic. Take control of the situation right now before things get out of hand.

We are headed into the second year of the pandemic. The fact of the matter is it might not go away anytime soon. All grace periods must be canceled immediately. This is not the time to wallow in defeat. This is the time to be a leader and take action. Protect your family by getting life insurance, getting them moving, and taking a stand against junk eating. Stop worrying about what you can’t do and commit yourself to what is well within your grasp.