Minor accidents

Accidents are of course unplanned but can have catastrophic issues. Luckily for me my accident was a minor one but the injuries are still causing me pain. I always believed that things happened for a reason even if the reason was unknown. Mine was carelessness but maybe there was another reason. I have found in the past that when I am trying to do something or rushing around then something happens to slow me down or stop me. But I cannot think whay this would happen now.

However the ‘damage’ to my hands and knees as well as other bruised bits has stopped me from doing things I love like writing, sewing, crafting and cooking. So I have had plenty of time to think and reflect on my life at the current point in time. I know that the pandemic has stopped me from rushing around and I am much slower now so doing too much is no longer an option. I was trying to do too much in the garden when I feel up the steps though even though I delegate most of the garden work to someone else.

I have had accidents in my life before but nothing serious but I do know what it feels like when a part of your body doesn’t work right for a period time. I remember having my foot in plaster for 6 weeks and that curtailed a lot of activity. But when a hand is not working right then it opens up a new type of scenario. You don’t realise how much you use your hands until one doesn’t work right. In my case it was both hands but one was worse than the other. So everything thing you do as normal each day, washing, cooking, even cleaning my teeth took on a new dimension. Getting out and about came to a halt as I could not use my crutch to help me walk. But things are improving and I have spent time thinking and planning and watching the Tour de France on the TV.

But I have still not decided whether there was anything else behind this accident apart from my own carelessness. I knew when I moved here that the garden steps could be a problem but for two and half years I have been OK until now. I suppose it is easy to get complacent about things and take less care when doing something. There is a lot of complacency around at the moment with the pandemic and I wonder where that will take us. We have to learn from mistakes and minor accidents too.

Complacency

I am sure I have written about complacency in the past but it seems very relevant in the current time. So what is complacency about? It is about accepting that things are non changing, it is an uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one’s achievements. It is a feeling of smugness. So are you complacent? Are you one of those who say ‘I’m alright Jack!’, ‘it won’t happen to me’, it’s nothing to do with me’?

Do you question things or just accept everything you are told or read about? Do you ever think that something is wrong but do nothing about it? Do you protest at the things that are going on in the lives of others or do you just ignore it?

Lots of questions here for you to think about. I often get told off for having an input into what I think is wrong and told to just let it be. But if we all do this then where is the world going to end up?There is a lot of injustice around and a lot of people who say that it won’t happen to them especially during this pandemic. There are guidelines for us to follow, many of which make sense. Remember that in school, one child gets chicken pox and then all the others get it.Viruses spread just the same so it is good to be sensible and follow guidelines when necessary.

But there are other instances when being complacent can be wrong. There is a problem locally with teenagers on bikes damaging trees and abusing people. Should they get away with this or should they be found and spoken to. I did not say punished as that can often be the wrong thing to do but most children will respond to being told why what they are doing is wrong. Things triggers another subject, the subject of education. Here in the UK children have not been at school since March or at least most children. Some have been at school for part of the time but most have been home schooling.

So back to complacency, should we all be doing more to change things by getting involved and not just sitting back and letting everything go by without comment or action?