Putting It All Together. Expect The Unexpected - (Part 5)

Welcome to the final part of our 5-part series on expecting the unexpected.

Stuff happens.

We get sick, we get injured, we have family emergencies, household items break and systems break down.

We may not know what will go wrong, or exactly when.

But we know if IS going to happen, sooner or later. So we might as well prepare for it so we can more easily handle it when it does.

Because when things go wrong is exactly when we most need to practice self-care.

This means:

• Accept that it's going to happen, sooner or later.
• Keep it simple. It doesn't need to be perfect.
• Have some frozen leftovers you can pull out in a pinch.
• Have some basic staples always in the house that you can throw together.
• Have a few simple meals that you can throw together in a few minutes that will last all week (example: Dr. Jill's Stone Soup recipe from Part 3 of this series).
• Learn to ask for help. Practice this in advance with little things if you need to.
• Forgive yourself if you need to.

Understand that you may not get it right the first time. You might make a mistake. That's okay. Mistakes are how we learn. You will get more chances to practice.

Because let's face it, stuff happens.

We've come to the end of our 5-part series on expecting the unexpected. 

I hope what you've seen is the truth in the photo that has accompanied every post in this series: "If you expect the unexpected, doesn't that make the unexpected expected?"

That's what I want for you. To see that you can't expect every little unexpected thing down to every little detail, but to know that you can see that something unexpected will happen sometime, and that there is some planning you can do around it.

A sick day plan. A bad week plan. A broken down car/fridge plan. A broken arm plan.

Any contingency plan that works for you.

I guarantee you that spending 5 or 10 minutes planning this out now will save you HOURS when you need it.

It will help you to feel better than if you eat crap because it seems like the easiest thing to do.

And it will help you to feel in control of your life even when the unexpected happens.

Because let's face it, stuff happens. So expect the unexpected.