Good morning! I hope your day is off to a great start.
For the first time in months, I made it through the weekend without a trip to the grocery store. That doesn’t happen very often. And don’t get me wrong – when we need groceries, I like to go along. But I guess we’ve been stocking up over the past several weeks, so there’s really nothing we needed at the time. Again, that doesn’t happen very often.
Some things you can’t stock up ahead of time. Milk has an expiration date that you can’t really ignore. With other things, expiration dates are more of a suggestion. I’m not sure if there’s a shelf-life on macaroni noodles, but I’d feel pretty safe throwing them in boiling water after the expiration date. Yogurt, on the other hand, is a little more testy. When the foil lid is bulging, it’s about to open itself.
My mom always kept extra dry foods and canned goods in an outdoor pantry. When it became evident my dad’s employer was about to go under, she began stocking things up to make sure they’d be able to ride out any periods of unemployment. It was a smart move. Until one of the neighbors helped themselves to most of what was in the cabinet. But that’s another story.
There’s a reason farmers have silos full of grain that they won’t need until next year. It’s the same reason we save money, or at least try to, when we have a little extra. Or that we carry an umbrella in the car on sunny days. It’s about having what you need when the need arises. Or, as the saying goes, dig the well before you get thirsty. You know the need will be there someday. So, plan for it.
There have been more than a few times in my life when I’ve been caught off-guard with a job loss or an unexpected expense. We like to think we can plan for the future, but in all honesty, the future just gets a good laugh out of that. If you think you’ve got all your ducks in a row, it’s like a challenge to the gods to throw you a knuckle ball. And believe me, they will.
That’s why batters wear a helmet. Odds are they can stand at the plate five hundred times and never get hit with a fastball. But it only takes one wild pitch to really mess up your day. And when that pitch is coming in at 90 mph, they don’t have time to run back to the dugout and grab a helmet. So, they put that helmet on just in case.
Have you ever been driving to work and somebody decides to take your spot in the road? It happens all the time. And hopefully we’re alert enough to avoid an accident and get to work with nothing more than an elevated heart rate. But what if we weren’t able to take evasive action quickly enough? What if, instead of another car, it was a dump truck? That can really mess up your day.
And it can turn your whole life around in an instant. Last year, when I found out I needed brain surgery, it brought home a reality none of us ever wants to think about. In my case, it was relatively minor (something to do with the size of my brain, or so I’m told), but it could have been a life-altering event. And it’s not like I planned for it ahead of time. It just happened.
It’s a good feeling knowing you’ve got things pretty well under control, but in a lot of ways, that’s just an illusion. What it means is you’re controlling the things you can control, but with everything else you’re just along for the ride. And, like a rollercoaster, the track can take a sudden turn downward and there’s nothing you can do but hang on for dear life.
I guess that’s why I’ve always tried to maintain some kind of second income. It’s not much, and certainly not enough to live on. But when the chips are down, a little here and a little there can add up quickly. Especially if it’s something you can do from home, without any strenuous effort. The doctor only says you can’t drive or lift more than ten pounds. That leaves a lot of possibilities.
We never know when life may turn on a dime and leave us scrambling just to maintain what we’ve got. It’s nice to kick back in a recliner and let life go by without us. But there may be a day when we’ll wish we’d put some of that time to better use, or we’ll think of all those opportunities we let slip by.
Put on the helmet now, before you stare down a wild pitch. Set something aside for a rainy day. Take another look at those opportunities. Maybe you’ll never need any of those things. But what if you do?
That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!
© 2019 Dave Glardon – All rights reserved
Dave Glardon 