Sun Shines through a rainy week(18th July 2020): It was a rainy sunny sort of a day, this day, July 17 in 1955, when Walt Disney opened his $17 million theme park on 160 acres in California. There were a few disasters that happened on that opening day, including a woman’s high heel getting stuck in the wet asphalt and a steamboat capsizing with too many passengers.
Yes, the theme park had to be closed down. Is the moral of the story not to take risks, not to try anything big and new? Absolutely not.
Just tells us, doesn’t it, how important it is to undertake a good risk assessment, to do some forward planning so that quick and decisive responses can be taken in times of emergency, minimising loss and injury.
Risk taking should begin from a very young age, and the greatest gift a parent can give children is supporting them to take risky activities that teach them positive risk-taking skills.
I remember as a child I climbed many a tree, and fell down many times. It taught me many life skills including the ability to face fear and overcome fear. Many such activities like crossing streets, staying home alone, making friends, using a stove, raising a hand in public – can be so daunting at first but they teach us to venture into the world with confidence and common sense.
Talk to any farmer and he or she will tell you the importance of risk taking and managing risk. This year continues to a challenge for farmers in Western New South Wales, and other parts of our country. They have faced several years of drought, and more recently bushfires. And now a health pandemic. Despite all that, they have smiled at a beautiful rain that we have had for the last few months, and some, in a risky but cautious way, have planted and are expecting a good yield. Fingers crossed.
Let us smile with them, and let us put a note of positivity when next time we speak with a farmer.
Let us smile through our tears and let us create support them to take positive risks again and again, for us all. So that we all continue to benefit from locally grown foods.
This week, let me end with a joke related to our industry:
Apparently, people who exercise have been shown to recover better and be less at risk from mental health issues….
So, who said you can’t run away from your problems?