Quote We never miss the water til the well runs dry:" is it still valid?

Hi Patsie As they say Life is to try us and sometimes we will block things But then it is not certain that your Son would have found a Job before you got evicted so really what happened to you and your Son could have happened either Way Sweetie It would be like me saying I should not have put up with 21 Years of abuse but I did, I might not have lost my confidence and self respect and trust if I had left the Marriage earlier but I didn't Sometimes we have to close our Minds which is only because if we don't we can not cope

I know this situation well, my dear Hatley.. too well I can almost taste it. All of us at times feel so safe that we sort of put off things for later. Later is the day that society beats us to the punch where as we end up homeless, jobless and our hearts affected. Sometimes our guts and mind tell us more then our heart so simply to you and your son you know you could not do more then the heart dictated overpowering your mind and guts. At least for me this is what happened. But you are the one that has given me the motivation and drive, to simply keep trying and never give up.

I think that we all have an inbuilt self defence mechanism Hatley. Sometimes that takes the forms of fight or flight and also the ability to shut out the reality and pretend that it is not happening. We can hope that something will "turn up" but in reality we mostly have to make things happen in our lives. "Seize the day" they say!

I've been tbrough those "dry wells" so often in my life that it has now become second nature to look at each situation from every angle and try my best to be prepared for it. Of course, that doesn't mean that I am always prepared. There are always unforeseen circumstances that tend to blindside us. But, I think you're right about human nature in general. We do tend to ignore the little signs. Also, hindsight is always 20-20. Things we didn't think of when they could have made a difference we do think of after the fact and that is primarily because we have the time to reflect back. The key is to learn not to beat yourself up over it. What's done is done and you just have to pick yourself up and carry on, looking forward and working toward a better tomorrow.

Lately I have been looking at things a lot different. There is always those we should of, could of, and would of's. The way things are today I look at everything like anything can happen. I for one am preparing myself for anything that can happen.

Guess we take good things for granted until we just wake up to find it's all gone and that's when we start appreciating how good it was. I was hit real hard too by the down turn 2 or three years ago because I'm in a biz that's dependent on world prices and richer countries demand for raw materials,it hit us unexpectedly that we never knew then what hit us at all,prices kept going down ,down until you realized that what you have is practically worthless cause there is no more demand. I would look at my family sleeping and have thoughts of how I can provide for them, talk to wife and discuss what luxuries we have to give up, what we are going to pawn, how we could get back on track,options,fall back positions, how to just survive till everything passes etc..etc...endless and I would say this was one of the worst times of my life, it's like a nightmare that you cannot just wake up on. My faith has help us a lot to recover, things like this make us go back to God and pray, the crisis made me adopt and changed the way I manage my biz, a good thing is not forever.. but a bad thing is not forever either so the crisis will pass, just have faith.

I do not know why it is so hard to plan ahead of time for life's calamities. Lack of planning and foresight has gotten me into more trouble financially over the years, especially since my daughter was born (seven years ago) and then we went into some serious debt and hard times money wise. Seems like we are always spending our excess money when we have it on stuff we could live without like take out pizza or DVD rentals. I should save that money for times when we don't have any money and then we will have money for food. Even before the US economy and job market went into the down slide, we were poor cause my spouse works in a job market that is on an as-needed basis, almost like a contract. Since it's in the security field. And, so when he can find work, it's with a company that farms him out to various sites for security purposes. Then he works on that site while they need him and then when it's over, the home company might have more work for him and sometimes they might not, depending on local need. Often, there are long stretches of unemployment as they search for a new client site for him to work at. Over the last seven years, we have been so extremely poor, mostly cause of the natural cycle of his job and cause of high living expenses in Florida. The best decision we ever made was to move out of Florida, where rents were close to $1000 monthly even for a basic house. We bought a used trailer in the state over. Since then, our rent has cost almost next to nothing, about a third of what we were paying for a duplex in Florida. I was complacent in my attitude about our new place cause it's a trailer and I figured that we owned it so what bad thing could happen. Then last month, the new management came up with some ridiculous amount of money they said we owed, almost $700 for back rent. They never told us anything, just let the debt build and never said that we owed. The manager was able to talk to corporate office and have it worked down to just over $200 debt, and they are letting us pay it back $12 a month. My spouse is a very good negotiator or else we would have no way to pay them back and they would surely evict us from the lot and we don't have money to move the trailer so we would have to sell or abandon it. Just as I think things are getting better, a new wrinkle appears in my life. Right now, my spouse is unemployed cause of numerous injuries he has received that prevent him from standing for long and his health is constantly failing. I do not know if he will ever be gainfully employed again. We are surviving off the small money I make off the Internet and some disability money that he had coming to him. I am hopeful for the future and try not to think depressing thoughts, cause I have already lived through the worst and I consider today to be the best day of my life. Just so long as I am spending them with my family. It doesn't matter how much or little money we have. I'm sure your situation will get better over time Hatley. I am sincerely hoping it will.

Not too many are prepared for such a day. And I am utterly guilty of that. But for many it's hard enough to pay your day to day expenses not even considering saving for all the "what if's" that could happen. All we do here is pray to keep our head above water.

It's human nature to avoid pain and problems and that's why few of us are prepared when hard times come. Now you probably plan as best you can--a few dollars hidden somewhere for emergencies, knowing first aid, remembering what happened before so you know what to expect if it happens again. Things like this prepare us, warn us to look ahead. Don't feel bad, Hatley, many people are in the same boat. There are lots of things I could have done to prevent my relatively small troubles, too. Giving deeper thought to my actions would have saved me some pain and money! Unfortunately, that's not something we humans are good at! I have leaned, and I hope millions of others have, too, to try to look ahead and prepare for the worst since our economy has tanked. That doesn't come naturally to most of us, though!

I think that on a spiritual level we would never learn much if we always knew when calamity was going to strike. I believe in fate and Karma. I think both work hand in hand to avail us of experience and good spirit to get us through life. And if we didn't have a calamity or two we wouldn't respect the good in life.

Proverbs 22:3 (New Living Translation) A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. I have always found much wisdom in this proverb. If I can put it in my own words: A shrewd person sees what problems may come their way and takes precautions so that the worst does not occur. I always like to look and think ahead. If this happens how will I cope with it and what can I do to solve the problem. By thinking ahead I have avoided many problems.

Hi Hatley. It is true that we "never miss the water til the well runs dry" I think that it is human nature to take little things for granted until we are suddenly faced with losing them. This might be our job, a family member or a friendship or our own marriage. We really need to focus on being grateful for everything that we have instead of ignoring their good qualities and complaining of those things which we do not have. I am not sure why we blind ourselves to these things until it is too late. Maybe it is the optimistic side in us which always desires things to be good that does not allow us to see the negatives. I think we need to see those negatives, but not focus on them, just see them and make sure that they are keeping quiet!

Hiya Hatley, For all the times I wish I had a magic wand this is one of the times I really and truly wish that I had one to magic away this kind of situation. I have been there now three times what you call Homeless. This is made worse by the snobbery of owners of Houses at least this is what I find here. If you live in a Rented Flat here you are nothing to them. They leave us out of their Meetings when we are supposed to know what is going on. Because we are paying for the Owner to be able to keep his Flat going whichever way they like to look at it that is what we are doing. We have come out of the Door and found them all gathered together outside of our Door and they all go quiet when we go past them. They do not say hello to you they just ignore you. I found this in the other rented place we lived in too the same mentality. I don´t know if this is the same anywhere else but I live here on a daily basis and this is what goes on. Anyway I put that bit because you mention being and feeling humiliated. Yes I have found that but I have had to live with it and a few other things too. I could not have done anymore than what I did to avoid all the situations I found myself in at those times, These situations are always difficult to handle and never again am I going to let myself feel less than others because of it. Now I don´t let these silly people get to me they are very silly indeed. You know what Hatley someone in the same situation as me living rented in this Doorway he is the only one that speaks to me as well. Well now I am getting myself a bit tangled here trying to tell you how I know it feels. It´s an unrest that is hard to pacify at times that´s how I can explain it right now. But I have been there Hatley and I hope that there is never a next time. It does not make you any more resilient or braver or anything like that. It´s not your fault or anyone else´s really it´s just the circumstances of life itself. I hope it rights itself soon much sooner than later. Could you have foreseen it before anyone else I doubt it either. Just to say that it comes from the Heart that I know how it feels. xxx

Of course! I call them the "Coulda, shoulda, wouldas". They drive me nuts when used too often. They're the "Didn'ts". Ya get out there and start looking, and asking questions, even if someone thinks it's dumb. Before this last recession we paid off credit cards and stocked up on canned goods. We bought a big safe and put a bunch of cash in there. But I suffered two strokes last year and "boom"! During my recovery I continued on with the same attitude. Fuzzy head and all I continued to ask questions after my strokes. I've learned two things; people have no patience for unhealthy people and when you have your health, you have everything!

I quite like the scout motto Hatley....BE PREPARED. I think this is a great one to live by...it's very smart. Always have a little nest egg put by. Always have a little fuel in the car...enough to get you to the shops. Always have one set of good clean clothes ready to wear. Always do the dishes before you use the last set of dishes or the last 2 coffee cups. Never run out of tea & coffee and so on. Always have a spare set of keys carefully hidden outside. Have a "plan B", a contingency plan so if something goes wrong...you will be fine. Never leave anything or everything to fate. Remember Murphey's Law.

I agree with u Hatley ...the saying is true in many situations even today...though i have not come across but see many situations around when it feels to have meaning even today...its better to be prepared for unexpected things, to face such situations...though many times very unexpected things we have to face in our life...but its better to foresee them...

Just like the saying "You don't know what you have until it's gone" holds true. There's a lot of good old sayings, not myths but old sayings that hold a lot of truth in them but most have long been forgotten which is really sad. On the other hand, "We can't take it with us" - so why not enjoy it while here, hold truth too. I agree we all need to save for a rainy day but I don't believe in the need to save all you can all you can for the rest of your life. We are allowed to enjoy our lives too just as our future generation will with THEIR money that they make. So we can't take it with us so why leave it all behind? Life is short enough as it is so I want to enjoy it too and I am but carefully too, if that makes any sense. lol Kind of like a catch 22

Hello hatley, it's nice to comment on your discussion again. I am not particular with Quote but I think it is working as the situation shows this time...

I think that when things are going pretty well for us, it tends to be that we become blind to the fact that something bad can happen to us at any time. I, however, am not this kind of person, instead I am the kind of person that worries about anything and everything. I think that the reason that I am the kind of person that I am is because of the fact that my father passed away at a young age and that made my mother, siblings and myself have to face times in our lives that most people never have to face. Therefore, I find that I'm constantly worrying about money, I'm constantly worrying about health, and I even worry about what will become of my loved ones should something happen to me.

This is true. We never miss the water til the well runs dry. It's still valid. We are aware of this. But we never take action to it. At some point we do something but never for the long run.