“I do believe those are your three most favorite words,” my wife commented, with no criticism intended. It was one of those, “by-the-way” observations that give reason for pause.
I had just used the phrase, “just in case.”
“Really?” I responded, surprised, and a tad defensive.
She chuckled, trying to wave it off as a casual comment. But it made me think, nonetheless.
The particular context had to do with my coat. We were getting ready to travel to the airport, where we would pick up our daughter. The weather was unseasonable mild for Kentucky, but I was going to throw my heavy coat in the back seat of the car, “just in case.”
I justified my comment, for I was putting the coat in the car, “just in case” the temperature suddenly dropped 20 degrees in the next three hours, and the car broke down, stranding us along the road. And who knows? I could be exposed to the elements, shivering, waiting for AAA to arrive. That’s why I threw my coat in the backseat.
But maybe I am overly cautious.
So, I thought of other instances where I have used that phrase, “just in case.”
“Save those leftovers another day, just in case…” They are already a week old, so, what’s my reasoning? Just in case we have a sudden, world-wide famine, I’ll have those leftovers, even though I may get food poisoning. Really?
“I need to take plenty of reading material for our overnight stay, just in case.” So, I’ll lug half-a- dozen books with me on a two-day trip, “just in case” our plane is delayed, or our car breaks down, and I’m marooned with nothing to read.
“Leave a light on, just in case,” even though we already have a security system in our house.
My “just in case” talk was more frequent than I had realized. But why not? I have for years abided by the Boy Scout motto: “Always be prepared.”
Then I looked up the phrase in the dictionary. Here’s what I found: “Just in case: to protect against something bad that could happen: ‘I’ll take my umbrella too, just in case.’”
I had to admit, there is a difference in being prepared on the one hand, and organizing life in the fear that “something bad could happen,” on the other.
It is important to plan and prepare for “worse case” scenarios, but if we live under a “just in case” shadow, we are in danger of always hanging out on “Caution Avenue,” instead of launching out onto the blue highways of adventure. There is no denying, our world isn’t perfect, and evil lurks, at least potentially, around every corner. Bad things can and will happen. But, there is also good will and kindness surrounding us too. Unless we step out in faith, we’ll never experience the thrill and joy of life.
Years ago, I bought one of those framed quotes in a gift shop while on a mini-vacation. (I had brought more books than I could read and too many changes, just in case.) The saying hangs in a corner of my office. I’d grown so accustomed to it being there, that I almost forgot why I bought it. As I recall, it reminded me of the importance of letting go and living more freely. Vacations, even small ones, sometimes have a way of giving us time to reflect on how we’re living, for good or bad. And in our best moments, we respond to that inner yearning and venture out from the cove into the deeper waters.
The quote says,
“Dance like nobody’s watching; love like you’ve never been hurt. Sing like nobody’s listening; live like it’s heaven on earth.”
I’m sure I’ll still pepper my vocabulary with an occasional, “just in case,” but whenever it begins to dominate my thinking, I’m going to re-read that quote again and again.
And if I happen to be away far from it, and can’t seem to recall its words, I hope Lori will remind me to throw my “just in case” to the wind.