Truth or Consequences

When I was a child we sometimes watched the game show Truth or Consequences. Contestants on the show were given a short period of time to answer a question or series of questions correctly (truth). If they failed to answer correctly they suffered the consequences—performing a zany or embarrassing stunt.

Yesterday I played my own game of

when I went for my hike in the woods.

Because of big toe joint problems in my left foot, I began feeling pain and throbbing in my toe joint when I was about one-third of the way back on my hike yesterday. At that point it was too late to change my behavior. There was no way to wind back time and walk less distance. The only thing I could do was keep on hiking through the pain to get back to my car.

And to tell you the truth, I knew that I was probably going to have some consequences from the length of my hike and I did it anyway. Sometimes I feel it’s worth the pain to spend time in the woods. As I woke in the middle of the night with a throbbing toe joint I wondered about my choice for awhile. But even now, after a very interrupted night of sleep I’m still glad I went.

Unfortunately with COVID-19 many are playing a

High Stakes Game of Truth or Consequences

with their lives. It’s difficult to predict who will have a mild case of the disease and who will have a more severe case. There is a lot we don’t know but as time goes by we keep learning. And what we do know is that everyone has some risk. As a member of a “high-risk” group I find that I’m less concerned about myself than about the possible consequences for loved ones if I engage in risky behaviors. So I wear a mask. I don’t get together with friends, even outside. And I don’t go to indoor or outdoor events where there are a lot of people present..

I think we have many more months, probably more than a year that we will need to social distance and modify our behaviors in ways that many of us dislike. To weather this storm we need patience, perserverance, and vision.

As we navigate these uncertain waters of COVID-19