Let's Talk About...Tying Your Shoes

Ok. You know how they say, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?" Well, Benjamin Franklin was right. For example, do you tie your shoelaces once or do you double-tie them?

Yesterday I was walking Emma, our dog, and I nearly tripped on my untied shoelaces. I looked down to see one foot on top of my lace and thought, "I could fall head first onto the pavement and break a hip or something."

What is so hard about double-tying my shoes? It isn't hard to do, but it takes longer than tying my laces once, and it is a pain to untie later. But is that lack of effort worth the risk of doing a faceplant?

How often have you thought something like, "If only I had remembered to shut the gate, the dog wouldn't have gotten out"?

Why don't we make that extra effort up front to ensure a positive outcome?

I would argue that more times than not, we do.

There are so many things we do to avoid having to do something else later. Some we do automatically and don't give them a second thought. For example, I lock the door behind myself, I close the refrigerator, I carry shopping bags in my trunk, I flush. Those rise almost to the level of "habit."

We eventually develop habits like putting our keys in the same place every time we come home so we can find them again. We set an alarm so we wake up in time for work. If we didn't, we would never find our keys or make the morning meeting on time.

Other things that we do proactively may take a little more forethought but are just as important. When you travel, for instance, don't you have to think twice about packing your passport, taking an extra battery for your phone, leaving heavy keys behind and checking your gate? Don't we all change our smoke alarm batteries twice a year? Maybe.

In fact, there are many things I habitually double-check.

How often have I gotten out of bed to double-check that I turned off the oven? Many times.

How often have I turned the car around to check that the iron is off?

We do these things for self-preservation. No one wants to burn their house down when it can be prevented with an easy flick of a switch.

That is why we lock our car after parking. It is why we keep a "car coat," cat litter, and a first aid kit in the trunk. It is why we consult with Alexa or Siri about the weather or the route to a new destination.

Similarly, we take our vitamins, get vaccinated, and eat our fruits and vegetables to avoid health issues in the future. No one likes to take vitamins or have a needle stuck in their arm, and often people resist vegetables when they can have a Big Mac. Yet, we do it.

We drip our faucets to avoid frozen pipes, we carry a spare tire in our trunk, we lock the front door to avoid intruders, and we kiss our spouse goodbye in the morning.

If we can preheat an oven and take a water bottle on the road, why can't we tie our shoes properly? It is a mystery.

I have been pestering my husband to fix a leaky faucet for months. (I tried myself and failed). Well, it is still leaking. And we all know what might happen next. The cabinet below will flood, the basement ceiling will collapse, and we will have a whole lot more than a leaky faucet to deal with.

So why procrastinate? Why not just double-tie your shoes?

So, fix the faucet.

Check the map.

Change your oil.

Don't forget your homework.

Measure twice. Cut once.

Think ahead.

And tie your shoes. Twice.