Not taking notice of signs can be dangerous
‘Mopping up the kitchen floor at 6am one dreary morning, I had a sudden insight… For a few days I had found water leaking from one of the washing machines in the kitchen. Since there wasn’t much water leaking, I didn’t take much notice. Now I was paying the price for this little oversight. Water was everywhere, the dog was walking in and out with muddy paws, time was running short and the kids had to get to school ……..you get the picture.
“If only I had done something before when I saw the first signs of leaked water” I repeated to myself, until something dawned on me. Observing when something is wrong and taking the time to understand what is the actual cause is a valuable principle of the LearningMethods work. Usually applied to our own state of well-being, it applies equally to the well-being or upkeep of machines!
The Analogy
In daily life it is so easy to notice signs that something is wrong, either physically or psychologically, yet very often these signs are not acknowledged or taken seriously. Just like me noticing small pools of water under the sink and dismissing them as unimportant. By refusing to accept that I had a problem, however small, I was inviting the problem to become worse.
Irritating headaches turn into head splitting migraine, sad spells turn into more depressive moods, back tension turns into painful sciatica ……whatever the problem they all begin with some kind of early warning symptom. If we can learn from our past experiences, when we ignored these signs, and understand why we suffered the consequences, then we can explore new options, namely of being more aware and more active in responding to them earlier.
And so, the floor was finally clean and dry, the leaking pipe was tightened and the girls got to school on time. But before you hurry to check your washing machine, remember that machines can be thrown away but we are less expendable!
Go ahead, #hashtag away.
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