Ever found yourself in a tight spot and realized you’re flying solo? This week, we dive into the importance of having a solid emergency contact list, especially when you’re living that single life. I share a wild story about a close encounter with a deer while driving home from a hike in the dark—talk about an adrenaline rush! It got me thinking about how being single can sometimes leave you feeling a bit invisible and how crucial it is to keep connections alive. So, let’s chat about building our communities, checking in on each other, and why it’s nice to let someone know where you are—even if it's just to say, “Hey, I’m still alive!” Join me as we tackle these thoughts and wrap up with this week's Glow Up Challenge to foster those connections in our lives.

The adventure begins with a hike that turns into a near-miss with a deer—cue the adrenaline! I was driving back home after a lovely day at Starved Rock, enjoying the serene Illinois countryside when BAM! Suddenly I’m slamming on the brakes, and it got me thinking about a little something we often overlook: our emergency contacts. Being single has its perks, but it can also mean that if something happens, there might not be anyone checking in on us. I realized that while I love doing life solo, it’s crucial to build our community and keep those connections alive. It’s not just about avoiding deer collisions; it’s also about making sure someone knows where we are and what we’re doing. So let’s chat about strategies for staying connected, whether it’s a quick text or a spontaneous plan to hang out with a friend. Because at the end of the day, it’s all about finding the right balance between independence and connection, and I’ll give you some tips on how to do just that!

Takeaways:

• It's crucial to let someone know your whereabouts when you're out and about, especially if you're single.
• Driving home late at night can be dangerous, especially in rural areas with little light.
• Independence is great, but connection with friends and family is equally important for safety.
• A close call with a deer made me realize the importance of having an emergency contact list.
• Building a community is vital; it helps ensure someone knows if you're missing or in trouble.
• Checking in on friends can strengthen relationships and prevent feelings of isolation or invisibility.

Who is on your emergency list.

Hi, my single friend.

Welcome back to all about being single.

This is another single shorty.

I wanted to talk about an accident that I almost had the other day.

So, and I know I've mentioned this before, I live in Illinois.

I often, especially lately, try to go to Starved Rock to hike.

So I went there the other day and I got there kind of late.

I think it was around 3 o'.

Clock.

So then by the time I was done hiking, it was like five o'.

Clock.

And so by the time I was driving back home, it was already dark.

And it's pretty much all like in the country, at least the way back to my house for like a long because like a little bit over an hour.

And so on the way back I was driving, I think about 60.

I think that's probably what the speed limit is, or I was probably driving a little bit faster than the speed limit and it was dark.

There's not a lot of street lights because again, it's pretty much like out in the country, out in the Bufu.

And as I was driving again super fast, not a whole lot of cars go in either direction at this time because there's not a lot of people that live out there.

And as I'm driving, I noticed a deer trying to cross the road.

And I saw, I slammed my brakes and I was super scared.

I was sure I was gonna hit this deer.

And again I had like slammed the brakes and my car started going slower.

And then the deer literally just like somehow as it, you know, was running across, only brushed the back side of my car.

Like, I don't even think there's like anything on the car itself.

And I just kept driving and I just remember like being freaked out and for a couple of minutes and I really couldn't pull over again.

There's no street lights anywhere.

There's nowhere to pull over unless you pull into like somebody's driveway.

And even that again, there's not that many houses down there.

So there just really wasn't a way, a safe way for me to pull over without possibly getting into another car accident by maybe another car driving fast and not seeing me.

So it took a while before I was able to pull over.

I pulled over at like the next gas station and thankfully there was one, I think maybe like 5ish minutes away from where this had happened.

And obviously adrenaline rushing through me for the first few minutes.

I was so thankful that a. I didn't hit the deer, that nothing happened to the deer.

I was also very happy that nothing happened to me.

That nothing really happened to my car.

So.

So all these, you know, bad things that essentially could have came out of this, that really all that had happened was just a few moments of adrenaline and this deer brushing the side of the car.

So really both of us just getting away almost untouched.

But then as I kept driving, of course I kept thinking, I'm like, well, I am single.

There's nobody that I'm going home back to.

If something had actually happened to me, it's possible that nobody would have known until maybe they checked in on me.

And it's also possible that if they checked in on me and I just wasn't, like, responding back, they maybe thought I was ignoring them or just not responding back, responding back or busy.

So it's possible that nobody really would know what had happened to me.

I mean, I do share my location with both of my sisters just because I know that if something had happened, obviously I need at least a couple of people to know exactly where to look for me, basically.

But again, like, if something had happened to me and I was unconscious, and again, nobody's expecting me to come home to them, so nobody's, like, waiting for me.

And if something were to have happened, if I didn't come home, like, nobody's making sure that they're checking up to see if I make it back home at night.

So it's just like one of those weird single life moments that nobody necessarily talks about or thinks about.

Like, I hardly ever think about, oh, my gosh, what if it had.

What if something had happened to me?

Which is also kind of crazy because actually, when I was at Starved Rock that day, I decided to take a different.

A different hiking trail there, which was a little bit scarier than a lot of them.

A lot of them.

There's so many people around where, like, you know, even if I, like, fell, somebody would not.

Is I. I feel comfortable enough that somebody would call somebody and somebody would come by and help me out.

But this one, I decided to take a hiking trail that led to, like, a lesser known canyon.

And there wasn't a whole lot of people.

Actually.

I was there for a few minutes by myself and was definitely.

The trail was way more narrow.

So I did as I kind of realized it was getting more narrow and there was nobody around me.

I did text my sister, one of my sisters, and I told her, hey, just so you know, this is where I met.

I'll let you know, you know, if you don't hear me, if you don't hear back from me in like an hour, please, Maybe try to figure out if I'm okay or not.

But.

So then I had obviously texted her once I was out of that little scary fun, obviously, but also a little scary part of Stars Rock.

But I had texted her and told her I was fine.

But again, I wasn't thinking, oh, maybe I should also, like, always tell people when I come back from, like, a bigger trip, which I don't necessarily consider Stars Rock a bigger trip because, again, it's only an hour away from me.

But essentially, yeah, I just don't consider that something bad could happen to me as I'm just literally out and about living my life.

So it was definitely a big realization that sometimes it's nice to let people know where you're at.

We're so used to doing things by ourselves.

Sometimes we might feel invisible or sometimes, again, I'm so used to doing things by myself, and I love doing things by myself.

It's not a negative way that I'm living my life.

It's just the way I'm living my life because I'm just so used to doing things by myself.

And I love doing things by myself.

A lot of my hobbies are things by myself.

Like, again, going to Starved Rock, I like going there by myself.

It's just my time.

But again, it did make me realize that, like, it is so important for me to keep a community, to build my own community, to let people know sometimes my whereabouts, you know, to be a little bit more cautious and be a little bit more aware of the fact that because I don't talk to everybody all day long, which is fine, but it's.

If I want to be.

If I want to feel seen, I also have to be one to reach out to others, you know, and not just wait for them to reach out to me.

And, you know, it's not just about having me checking in or me letting people know where I'm at, because obviously they're not, you know, that's just odd.

But it's also about building a connection, you know, and if I am letting my friends or my family know, hey, this is where I'm going, this is where I'll be.

It also allows me to ask them what they're doing.

It also allows me to build more of a connection with them.

It also allows me to check in with them and start a conversation.

And I think that sometimes I'm more of that.

Out of sight, out of mind.

So then I don't text people, and I hate calling people.

So it's hardly ever will you see me calling anybody, but I hardly ever text people because again, it's just that out of sight, out of mind.

I don't think about it and it's just something I, I should be doing more often as is.

But yeah, we definitely can be more intentional and that's something I'm going to be working on.

Just being more intentional of creating that community, of being known, of being seen and, you know, lending a hand to my friends and family by also doing my part.

So this week's Glow Up Challenge is pick one small way where you can make your life more connected.

So it might just be checking in on a friend just in general seeing what's going on with their life.

And it could be, again, a very short, quick text.

It could be asking a friend to make plans.

It could also be sending a friend a quick hey, I made it home tonight text message.

Just basically remember, independence is beautiful, but connection is also important in our lives.

So text someone you trust tonight could be just because there doesn't even have to be a reason just because you're thinking about them, just shoot them a text.

Thanks for being here this week.

Please take a moment to either follow this show if you're not following it already so you don't miss any future episodes, or share it with a friend that you think might benefit from this.

Any of that helps me to keep doing this longer.

I also do want to apologize.

Actually, this episode is coming out a little bit later in the week than it normally does.

I just had a lot of stuff happen this past weekend.

But I'm here with you today and that's all that matters.

And I appreciate you listening.

Always remember, even if we're late, like me with this episode this week, we're right on time.

I'll talk to you next Tuesday.