There are advantages and disadvantages to being prepared. I am the one who pulled out a set of guitar strings in the Myanmar jungle. (Wait, what? How did you know the village had only one guitar and that the E-string was broken…?) To me, hiking in BC = bears; I am the one with bells and whistles and spray. No lunch? Here’s my emergency energy bar. Ripped your too-tight joggers playing volleyball? Yup, I have an extra set of sweatpants in the trunk, along with Level II First Aid supplies, glow sticks, a portable magnetic Scrabble Game and a Ziplock bag of Tetley Bold tea.
Zombie Apocalypse? Bring. It. On.
On the other hand, there are times when my obsessive need to be ready for any and every circumstance paralyzes me with indecision. To vax or not to vax? Pipeline or environment? Liberal or Conservative? Dressing on the side, or on the salad, or none at all…? You get the picture.
SQUIRREL: “Cross over? No, wait! Go back? YIKES! Car! Car! Car! Cross over! Wait! No! Go ba – “
HUMAN: “Car, meet Roadkill.”
Making final preparations for Brazil, I am overthinking everything in my desire to be prepared. I have been trying to pack for both the icy cold rains of Curitiba and the sweltering heat of the Amazon. A last minute decision means a rush to find a Yellow Fever vaccine. Gnawing my lips, I have packed and re-packed my suitcase, fretting about whether to take a gift for our host or a bag of cashews for the flight. Work deadlines leave me awake in the middle of the night wondering if I have missed anything important, misspelled anyone’s name, sent the document to the wrong person (all three, as it happens). Anxiety is winning over my usual self-congratulatory Girl Scout demeanor.
STOP. (God? That you…?)
STAND STILL. (Moses, right? The Red Sea thing? So, you are saying to stand still instead of making like a squirrel trying to cross, uncross, then re-cross the road. Okay, I get that, sure, but what if…?)
BE QUIET. (So that’s a bit harsh, isn’t it? I’m just trying to weigh all the options here and be absolutely sure and in complete control so that I can … oh. Right.)
NOW, GO.
Israel was trapped between an army and an ocean. In Exodus 14:13-15 God tells them to stand still (Hebrew “make a stand”, decisively) then move on. No, we do not have everything we need. Neither did Israel, having “packed with haste”. Regardless, no amount of forethought and consideration of every possible weather condition could have prepared Israel for the eventuality of crossing through a split sea. They did NOT see that coming. What mattered most was not what they packed, but who went before them.
Okay, Brazil. Ready or not, here we come.
Zombie Apocalypse? Bring. It. On.
On the other hand, there are times when my obsessive need to be ready for any and every circumstance paralyzes me with indecision. To vax or not to vax? Pipeline or environment? Liberal or Conservative? Dressing on the side, or on the salad, or none at all…? You get the picture.
SQUIRREL: “Cross over? No, wait! Go back? YIKES! Car! Car! Car! Cross over! Wait! No! Go ba – “
HUMAN: “Car, meet Roadkill.”
Making final preparations for Brazil, I am overthinking everything in my desire to be prepared. I have been trying to pack for both the icy cold rains of Curitiba and the sweltering heat of the Amazon. A last minute decision means a rush to find a Yellow Fever vaccine. Gnawing my lips, I have packed and re-packed my suitcase, fretting about whether to take a gift for our host or a bag of cashews for the flight. Work deadlines leave me awake in the middle of the night wondering if I have missed anything important, misspelled anyone’s name, sent the document to the wrong person (all three, as it happens). Anxiety is winning over my usual self-congratulatory Girl Scout demeanor.
STOP. (God? That you…?)
STAND STILL. (Moses, right? The Red Sea thing? So, you are saying to stand still instead of making like a squirrel trying to cross, uncross, then re-cross the road. Okay, I get that, sure, but what if…?)
BE QUIET. (So that’s a bit harsh, isn’t it? I’m just trying to weigh all the options here and be absolutely sure and in complete control so that I can … oh. Right.)
NOW, GO.
Israel was trapped between an army and an ocean. In Exodus 14:13-15 God tells them to stand still (Hebrew “make a stand”, decisively) then move on. No, we do not have everything we need. Neither did Israel, having “packed with haste”. Regardless, no amount of forethought and consideration of every possible weather condition could have prepared Israel for the eventuality of crossing through a split sea. They did NOT see that coming. What mattered most was not what they packed, but who went before them.
Okay, Brazil. Ready or not, here we come.
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