Thinking on the Move

www.ironcooker.com

      Bear Grylls' program got me thinking about the spices of life. No one on the program had any knowledge of where they were or what the plants around them were.  One of the contestants was vegetarian and he ate deer!  I watched the wilderness teams cook the deer (well, some of the deer) over an open fire.  They didn't know how to cook meat faster by creating a rock wall to trap heat.  They didn't know how to build a rack stand to rest the cross stick on.   They only used hand held sticks they twirled about.  They were very crude shish kabobs.       

     But, what I was thinking while the show was on was, these people were told they had specific jobs to perform.  They waited until they arrived at the end location before they began to work on their tasks.  It never occurred to the food team to pick up a wild herb along the way.  It never occurred to cut two 'y' shaped sticks to use as supports for the meat sticks, even after they knew dinner would be deer meat. 

     I have nieces who consider themselves foodies. They would not eat plain, slightly charred meat on a stick unless someone handed it to them through a window of a well painted food truck!  Then, I think they would eat rat on a stick if someone told them it was exotic!  Their food must be handed to them or they really don't know where it comes from or how to get it.

www.lifeintheoffice.com

      I understand when you walk away from your desk into a new wild world, you might not have a knowledge base beyond go, walk, don't drown, eat, sleep.  As a prepper and as a mom, I have a hard time turning off the outside thinking.  If the expression is think outside of the box, I don't even remember where I left the box!  

     I have used Kool-aid to color Easter eggs, used vegetable skins to color fabric, used dental floss to sew on a button, used fishing line to stitch up a skirt hem, strapped a water pump to keep it out of the fan with a bungee cord till I got home, and ALL of those things I did before I started prepping, so, yeah, no, I do not know where the box is.

www.justapinch.com

     I find that when I am walking to or around a campsite, I see wild garlic.  I see the plants, the herbs the spices of life.  I walk through a grocery store and I see what will last a long time, serve me well and be there when I want it.  When I know I have a job to do, I start thinking how to do it, how best to do it, how to do it better before going to work.  I try to practice thinking on the move.  I try to see beyond the surface and to imagine how I can use my knowledge and experience for the best.  

    I see these survivor shows and I have to tell you, I don't envy them.  I have never been given a knife, a bag of rice and been told go, eat, don't die, see you later.  

     We don't have to see the end of the world as we know it to use this basic survival skill of looking around and imagining how to better use our resources or those we find.  We only need to exercise the skill of thinking on the move.  Whether you are at the grocer's judging sales or at work planning a task, reach beyond the box thinking.  Sure, do what your boss tells you.  But, exercise your mind to find the better, faster, safer, more accurate, cheaper way to do it.  

     When in the grocers' imagine how to do it with fewer resources, in an innovative way, or in a new way that costs less.  Thinking on the move is a skill you can develop.  Look around.  Explore your world.  Find some of those hidden spices of life.  

  A few more rocks around a fire ring makes an oven, a few more sticks makes a kitchen tool, some kool aid makes bright green eggs.  All you have to do is learn to look around your path and see what is there for you.  Try to get out of the habit of having your food handed to you and learn that thinking inside the box limits you.  Outside the box is where the fun stuff happens.