Life is Full of Things We’d Rather Not Look At

There’s a ritual that follows every summer walk in Nova Scotia. The dogs get inspected first. Then it’s my turn. If Joe is home, he helps. A romantic summer ritual if ever there was one.

I’ll be honest – nobody enjoys the tick check. There’s something unsettling about searching for a thing you hope isn’t there. It would be easier not to look. But not looking is the only truly dangerous option. A tick found tonight is nothing. A tick unnoticed for weeks is a different story.

Life is full of things we’d rather not look at.

For those who have served, in uniform, on the front lines, in emergency rooms, operational stress injuries come with the territory the same way ticks come with the woods. Not everyone picks one up, but everyone who does the work is exposed. That’s not weakness. It’s the nature of the terrain.

And nobody stops going into the woods because of ticks. The work you’ve done, and the reasons you signed up, were worth it. An injury along the way doesn’t mean the journey was a mistake.

The answer was never to stay home. The answer is to check, regularly, honestly, without shame. And some spots we simply can’t see on our own. Sometimes it takes another set of eyes, someone who’s willing to help, to notice what we can’t.

So enjoy the trails this summer. Just remember: it’s only the things we’re afraid to look at that have the potential to become problems.

At Landing Strong, nobody checks alone. Reach Julie at jwells@landingstrong.com or 902-472-2972.

Warmly,