Get Your Groceries Early

I’ve been in Tennessee for seven years this year. Every year, since I’ve been here, we’ve had snow at least once, and when it comes, most of the city shuts down. Schools are out, and people are either off work or working from home. This year was no different.  

The snow was predicted to come down around 6AM on Friday. I, like many people, saw the forecast earlier in the week and thought to myself, “I better go grocery shopping to make sure I have enough food to last throughout the weekend.” That was on Monday. I did not get to the grocery store until Thursday night after work. The stores were packed, and wouldn’t you know, the shelves were empty.  

I had to go to three stores to find ground beef, and even when I did find some, the brand or seasoning was not ideal for what I planned on cooking. I complained about the lack of resources and expressed my frustration at the fact that people had cleaned the shelves. I talked about how selfish it was of them not to leave anything for the rest of us. Yes, my condescension was at a ten!  

What I was trying to avoid with all of my soapbox chatter about the state of humanity these days is the truth. While it may be true that people tend to go a little overboard here at the possibility of snow, the other obvious truth is that I procrastinated. I knew I should have gone shopping at least four days earlier, but I didn’t. I made that choice with full awareness that I was risking the chance that there would be less options for me to choose from the longer I waited, and that’s exactly what happened. 

I had no one to blame but myself, but instead I chose to complain about others.  

I’m not just mentioning all of this as a form of self-deprecation. I don’t enjoy basking in the consequences of my bad decisions, and honestly, this really isn’t that big of a deal. I still have food; I just didn’t get what I wanted.  

Therein lies the lesson in all of this. Many times, the experiences we have are direct results of our choices. In some instances, there are factors we can’t control. In many other cases, we have ample opportunity to make the correct decisions to give us the best chance at success, and for whatever reason, we make the choice that sets us up for failure or less than we would have achieved. After that happens, we blame others. I might be looking too deep into this situation, but sometimes, the smallest occurrences show the greatest parallels to human nature. 

This wasn’t about the groceries or the winter weather. The lesson for me is to make sure I’m taking advantage of the opportunities I’m given, that I don’t take anything for granted, and that I take responsibility and accountability for my actions, even if it’s as minuscule as going grocery shopping at least a week in advance of winter weather. 

If you get anything from this, I hope it will be that you, too, will start this year off with the mindset to get your metaphorical groceries early. You know what you’ve got to do, so do it while you have the time. If not, there may not be anything left when you do. Happy New Year!