Our pastor is doing a series at church called, “Stuff Happens”. To quickly bring you up to speed on the sermons: Last week was on the good stuff that happens; This week was on who was actually in control and being surprised. A question we were asked to answer was “Do you like surprises?” A second question that was asked “Do you need to be in control to avoid surprises?”
I think that having a self-sufficient mindset truly makes answering these two questions a non-event. Being prepared isn’t about controlling the weather, or stopping an earthquake, or making sure you don’t drive into a ditch on an icy road. It’s about knowing what to do when one of these things happens and having the resources to deal with it when it happens.
While I don’t relish the thought of bad events happening, I am simply not going to worry about them because we have taken the steps to minimize the pain should a bad event occur. I’m going to say that again for effect. While I don’t relish the thought of bad events happening, I am simply not going to worry about then because we have taken steps to minimize the pain should a bad event occur.
I can imagine that a parent in the first half of the 20th century spent a good deal of time worrying about their children contracting polio. Up until the 1950′s there was a hysteria about the transmission vector. Pools, theatres, sports arenas, most public gathering places were closed at one time or another to prevent an outbreak of the disease. I remember my mother telling me that at one point in her childhood she was not allowed to eat a Popsicle because there was a rumor that they caused polio. Then this changed. There was a vaccine and I’ve never given a second thought to one of my children contracting polio. I took some simple steps to minimize the chances of them becoming infected and now I don’t worry about it. The vaccine itself is not without risk, but it is everything I can do with reasonable effort to protect my children from that disaster.
The same mentality applies to other disasters. If the power goes out because of an ice storm, we have a backup generator. If we were snowed in for a week or two due to a large blizzard, we would be fine. We have alternate heating sources, backup lighting, emergency food and water supplies, and plenty of OTC medications to get us through all but the worst of emergencies. We have taken reasonable steps to protect ourselves from natural disasters.
Do I like surprises? No. But I will not live in fear of them either.
Do I need to be in control to avoid surprises? No. I am in control of my preparations for the response to the surprise and by preparing, I will minimize the impact of the surprise.
Remember…Simple steps to a simpler life for a better future. When stuff happens, it’s the simple things that keep working. The complex ones have a tendency to fail.
