Reality check

The preference here is to keep real, and not get into the weeds with a lot of impractical,
unworkable ideas.

However, that is precisely the kind of thing that I am prone to doing.  There is this often
need to prune out these unrealistic thoughts, and to focus on what is possible.

That last trip was such a time.  It was supposed to be simple, and it was.  But what about the
big picture?  How realistic is it for me to be doing something like this in my condition?

Furthermore, there is some worrisome news in the community out there.  Somebody is reported
missing.  One thing that I have been warned about is something like that.  There are bad
people out there who might be inclined to do some bad stuff.  If you aren't ready for it,
you can be victimized.

But she didn't appear to be the pushover type.  I didn't know her though, but only saw
her on the Facebook page.  There is a lot of unknown stuff about the situation.  No need to
speculate.

Truth is, stuff like that can happen anywhere.  It can happen in the big city, too.

Not to downplay the risk, though.  At all times that I am out there, I feel this sense
of risk.  Help could be a long way off.  Trouble can happen at any time.

For instance, in driving on those dirt roads, I knew my small car was not the best choice.
In two other times, places, and vehicles, I got stuck.  I got help, but I needed it.
There may not be help for hours here, if at all.  Indeed, a bad guy may find you first.

So, I think about this when I hear about a missing person out there.  And I think, is this
really something that I should be doing?  I've certainly heard many warnings about it.

I was really tense at first, but as the time wore on, I relaxed a bit.  However, if I had
heard about the missing person before I left home, I might have paused a bit.  You can
get accustomed to the new surroundings pretty fast, but then that doesn't mean that the risk
is less.  The perception may make the risk seem worse than it really is.

Somehow, a balance must be struck.  If you worry about every little thing that could go
wrong, you would never step outside.  Almost all of the time, nothing bad happens.  But sometimes it does.  I woke up in a hospital once after a car accident.  You don't have the control over this stuff that you think you do, and it could happen to you even if you think that kind of thing only happens to other people.

Still, one cannot allow this to rule your life.  If I let risk of an accident stop me, I
would have never gotten back into a vehicle again.  That is a hard way to live if you were
to try to live that way these days.

As with all things, you balance risk and reward.  It is the only way to stay functional.  It
may be tempting to curl up into a fetal position, but life must go on.