Introduction to Aaron Eagle’s Awaredness Tips.
What is “awaredness”? Awaredness is a hybrid state of awareness and preparedness; a new brand of mindfulness accounting for the past and future, but mostly the present. It is a “now-centric” approach to preparedness. Therefore, our awaredness tips won’t be just your typical, “store 2 gallons of water per person, per day” tips (which, incidentally, is a great idea). They will also cover a variety of real-deal situations and concepts which are often overlooked in your typical gov-bot admonitions. Of course, though quirky and potentially crass, our tips will also be practical, and often include statistics and factual information from past disasters.
At the end of each awaredness tip, there will be a free giveaway to some clever reader who correctly answers some not-so-clever question we come up with.
Let’s start today with the first installment.
Awaredness Tip #1: “When you gotta go…GO!” (part 1 of 2)
“When you gotta go, GO!”
This phrase can be taken on a couple levels, which is why I’m breaking it into two parts. The first part, which we’ll cover this week, is how you may take the phrase initially. Yeah, if you gotta pee, don’t wait. Pull over and find somewhere to pee. If you gotta drop some gangsta hits, find a potty and go. Of course, it may be helpful to be prepared and have some of your own toilet paper, wet wipes and hand sanitizer handy (as you would if you had one of our G.O. Kits). …and yes, ladies, I know, it is not fair that we men can pee practically anywhere, but let us suggest one of these to help even the score. Ah, relief.
So what does this have to do with emergency preparedness? Well, think about it. You never know what will happen from moment to moment. How many times have you thought, “I can hold it till we get there”, only to be stuck in traffic for an extra 30 minutes, doing the pee-pee dance in your seat, or clenching your bum, sweat dripping? Well, that’s nothing. One minute you could be in an elevator, on your way up to an appointment with your shrink, coffee in hand, and the next moment there could be a massive blackout…for hours (days?). Well guess what–when you felt that tickle in your urethra down there in the Starbucks, that was when you should have made your way to the bathroom. Better to be a few minutes late to your appointment than a few hours stuck in an elevator with a full bladder, considering whether dumping your coffee and peeing in your grande cup is a good idea. And that’s nothing. Apply this to a major disaster. What if you have to drop some bombs, but you’d rather wait till you get home, and then there’s an earthquake and half your town collapses around you, and there’s literally no where private left to go, no less working plumbing? And then you have to evacuate. Looks like you’ll be holding it just a wee bit longer.
In the grand scheme of all that is emergency preparedness, this subject could seem trivial, but think about it a little more. In a disaster or emergency situation, there may be no privacy, there may be no time, there may be half a liter of pee soaking your pants and two melted candy bars in your undies after the explosion, because you didn’t do your simple duty of doo-ing your doodie when your body asked you to do it. Any thing you can do NOW to make a disaster less harrowing is worth it. Right? Be your own mama and ask yourself before you get in the car or go to bed, “honey, do you have to go potty right now?” This could be your last opportunity for who knows how long…
The same concept applies to anything, like eating or drinking water (both subjects of future awaredness tips) when you think of it, when your body asks you to. Little is more important than fulfilling your body’s natural functions. When you get that signal, it is time. Pause the movie, finish the e-mail later, be late to your appointment, relieve yourself. Now. Go.
“When you gotta go, GO!”
Give-away Game: Whoever guesses first what the topic of part two is (and posts it as a comment) will win a free Nite Ize LED Wand!
*Future awaredness topics (vote for which you’d like to read next!):
-”Shape Up or Poop Out”
-”Hydrate or ‘Hi, Death’”
-”Get That Monkey Off Your Back!”
-”Eat Junk Food…”
-”Streeeeeeeeeetch”
