So many times over the past couple of weeks I have heard people in the media say “I don’t know how they cope”, referring to residents of Christchurch, NZ after the earthquake.

What do you mean you don’t know how they cope? People cope. People put one foot in front of the other – what other choice is there. We can’t just choose not to cope – what happens then.

Coping doesn’t mean any quality of anything. It doesn’t mean you are doing well, it means you are responding to what life is throwing at you. So when people say “I don’t know how you cope” – perhaps we should reply – “Today I cope, tomorrow maybe I will choose not to. Then what.”

We should be saying to our resilient Cantabrians that we are thinking of them and we are trying to support them from all over NZ.

People cope. Survivors cope. It’s how we cope that is more important. We cope better with support.