I think the answer to whether we should skate fast or slow (over thin ice, or any other kind of ice) is "it depends."
I know, that may sound like an evasive answer. But the answer to so many things in life is "it depends"
The best we can do is to assess each situation and then make the most informed choices available to us, right? So, that involves our old friend, scrupulous honesty, of course. And, it involves taking everything we can into consideration.
For instance, if we're skating over thin ice we may be tempted to panic- after all, skating over thin ice sounds pretty scary, to me at least! Panic can make us not think clearly, and it can lead us to make impulsive and not-thought-through choices and decisions. Panic is hard to ward off, but at least if we can identify that we're panicking (or whatever we're experiencing emotionally) we have a better chance of not falling into an ill-advised decision for ourselves.
Here's an example that's not ice-related, but is waterfall related, so I think it counts as an illustration of what we're talking about here. When I was about 12 or so I was backpacking in the high Sierra mountains in California, near Yosemite National Park. It was early spring and there had been tons of rain that year. At one point, several hours into the first day of hiking there was a waterfall- one that in regular water years flowed underneath a narrow bridge that was the trail at that point (the bridge was just ropes and wood slats, and only about a foot wide- we're not talking a solid structure like the Brooklyn Bridge or anything!), but in this year the waterfall pretty much wholly covered the bridge.
The adults in the party assessed the situation, and some of them went back and forth over the bridge a few times to make sure it was safe. Then, when it was determined it was safe to proceed, we all crossed. I was certainly panicky! It was slippery, shaky, wet (in fact, you couldn't see more than a foot or so in front of you because of the spray from the waterfall)... terrifying, as far as I was concerned (and you all know I love water, in any form, so it says a lot that I was freaked out!).
In this case, although I super wanted to scoot across that tiny bridge as fast as my little legs would take me, the safest course was to proceed carefully and thoughtfully.
Same thing a few miles later when we came across a rattlesnake draped across the trail- and the next day when we encountered a mother black bear and her cubs! It was a pretty eventful backpacking trip that time :)
There are times, for sure, when you just want to scoot, scoot, scoot... and Laura R, I think you're in one of them. You want to scoot right away from medical danger due to malnutrition, dude. Just scoot right away. Do everything you possibly can to follow that meal plan. Challenge yourself.
Languishing over the malnutrition kind of thin ice is a dangerous thing. Also, and I bet many of you guys would agree, the longer you languish over that kind of thin ice, the harder it is to figure out what to do, how to get yourself moving again, which way to skate.
So, the best thing to do in this situation is to point your skates firmly in the direction of nutritional stability and head on over toward it. I'm not saying it's easy. Far from it. Just necessary.
I think the answer to whether we should skate fast or slow (over thin ice, or any other kind of ice) is "it depends."
I know, that may sound like an evasive answer. But the answer to so many things in life is "it depends"The best we can do is to assess each situation and then make the most informed choices available to us, right? So, that involves our old friend, scrupulous honesty, of course. And, it involves taking everything we can into consideration.
For instance, if we're skating over thin ice we may be tempted to panic- after all, skating over thin ice sounds pretty scary, to me at least! Panic can make us not think clearly, and it can lead us to make impulsive and not-thought-through choices and decisions. Panic is hard to ward off, but at least if we can identify that we're panicking (or whatever we're experiencing emotionally) we have a better chance of not falling into an ill-advised decision for ourselves.
Here's an example that's not ice-related, but is waterfall related, so I think it counts as an illustration of what we're talking about here. When I was about 12 or so I was backpacking in the high Sierra mountains in California, near Yosemite National Park. It was early spring and there had been tons of rain that year. At one point, several hours into the first day of hiking there was a waterfall- one that in regular water years flowed underneath a narrow bridge that was the trail at that point (the bridge was just ropes and wood slats, and only about a foot wide- we're not talking a solid structure like the Brooklyn Bridge or anything!), but in this year the waterfall pretty much wholly covered the bridge.
The adults in the party assessed the situation, and some of them went back and forth over the bridge a few times to make sure it was safe. Then, when it was determined it was safe to proceed, we all crossed. I was certainly panicky! It was slippery, shaky, wet (in fact, you couldn't see more than a foot or so in front of you because of the spray from the waterfall)... terrifying, as far as I was concerned (and you all know I love water, in any form, so it says a lot that I was freaked out!).
In this case, although I super wanted to scoot across that tiny bridge as fast as my little legs would take me, the safest course was to proceed carefully and thoughtfully.
Same thing a few miles later when we came across a rattlesnake draped across the trail- and the next day when we encountered a mother black bear and her cubs! It was a pretty eventful backpacking trip that time :)
There are times, for sure, when you just want to scoot, scoot, scoot... and Laura R, I think you're in one of them. You want to scoot right away from medical danger due to malnutrition, dude. Just scoot right away. Do everything you possibly can to follow that meal plan. Challenge yourself.
Languishing over the malnutrition kind of thin ice is a dangerous thing. Also, and I bet many of you guys would agree, the longer you languish over that kind of thin ice, the harder it is to figure out what to do, how to get yourself moving again, which way to skate.
So, the best thing to do in this situation is to point your skates firmly in the direction of nutritional stability and head on over toward it. I'm not saying it's easy. Far from it. Just necessary.