Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Literally Unexpected

The unexpected is a huge part of the appeal of playing outdoors;  to see new places and try new things.  It's what makes it so much fun.  Some people fancy themselves eager to experience the unknown, myself included, but what happens when things are literally unexpected?  

When you go outside you do your best to mitigate danger through preparation but lets face it, if it is truly unexpected, you likely didn't prepare for it.  Yes, the logic is sort of circular but it is something to consider.  You can learn how to splint a broken leg in advance and that is smart preparation but if you do so then it is part of the known world, it's just the unwanted part of the known and something you try to avoid.

So what is the unexpected?  Hell if I know.  Need I remind you of the circular logic again?  What I do know is that the only way to successfully address the truly unexpected is through the acceptance of it.  No matter how much you learn and prepare, the unforeseen will happen.

Side note:  This is an interesting book on survival situations.  Overall, I enjoyed the book but especially the first half which spoke more about the science of surviving.
Deep Survival, by Laurence Gonzalez

1 comment:

  1. I guess I sort of use unexpected and unknown interchangeably and there are differences in definition, but if you neglect preparing for the unexpected, maybe because the chance of it happening is very remote, then you have effectively made the definitions equal.

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