Recently I listened to a speaker at our local Rotary club talk about survival and what you need in a survival kit should you end up stranded somewhere. He listed a variety of survival essentials you should keep in the trunk of your car, just in case, items like fire starters, road flares, flashlights and such.
As I was listening my mind wandered to what exactly is in my trunk for emergencies. The only item that came to mind was a heavy-duty, 500 pound capacity lawn chair I picked up in case I was somewhere without adequate seating for my girth. I often had to pull it out at friends’ houses and birthday parties.
My daughter has a habit of picking up a toy or stuffed animal whenever we are loading up for a drive. That is her emergency road kit.
My newest emergency road kit is a polyethylene lunch bag I keep filled with an ice pack, chicken, spinach, bread, almonds, pickles and baby carrots. I also keep two metal water bottles, refilled at every stop.
On fasting days I usually have a bag of 14 almonds in my pocket, just in case.
I typically have an umbrella, a box of tissue and a phone charger in my car, too. This rounds out my emergency kit.
What is in yours?
The only way I have found to survive in the long game of dieting is to keep my diet foods readily available. Spinach is essential to me because 20 calories can fill me up. Almonds, tuna and chicken are important to make sure I always have a good source of protein handy. The carrots and low-carb bread help me when I have a hankering for something sweet. The pickles are nice to have if I crave something salty like chips or fries.
While writing this I had to stop and pick up a box of chocolates for my daughter’s school fundraiser. As I was strategizing how to sell the candy bars, I was also scheming ways to deal with the craving for one, just in case.
Of course, the problem is not eating one piece of chocolate. The problem is eating the whole box of chocolates.
It took me four months on this journey before I was secure enough to incorporate peanut butter into my diet. Before, I could finish a large jar in two days. I am not sure I am ready to sample the chocolate for myself. Plus, I do not have $60 to replace the case. So, I will do my best to sell these as quickly as possible.
34 “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” – Luke 21 NIV
Three Conversations 