Well, I’m up in Basalt Idaho and the Shelley Ready Preparedness Fair was this past Saturday. Even with the unusual cold and snowy weather and the bout of flu the prior weeks, there was still a good turnout. True a couple of vendors and two class presenters were sick and couldn’t make it. Other presenters stepped in and did a second session of their class.
I am proud of everyone that showed up. Whether to present or to learn, it showed that you are not resting on your laurels. Just what does that mean anyways? Resting of your laurels.
In Ancient Greece, victorious athletes were presented with laurel wreaths to wear. They were, and still are, signs of great accomplishment, unless you start resting on them…
To ‘rest on your laurels’ means that you get lazy or complacent about what you could achieve because you’re too busy basking in the memories of former glories. It’s a phrase that continues to have significant relevance in the world of sport (‘Yeah, you may have won the World Cup but don’t rest on your laurels!’), which is also where it originated.
Winning competitors in the Ancient Greek Phythian Games, a forerunner of the Olympics founded roughly in the 6th century BC, were given wreaths made of the aromatic laurel leaves as a symbol of their triumph.
Those that participated in the Shelley Ready Preparedness Fair were definitely not resting on their laurels. The Presenters put on great classes and the participants were asking great questions. they were eager to learn and it showed.
So just because it’s winter time it doesn’t that it is time to sit back and bask in all the preps you did last summer. Keep going, keep preparing. Remember, Get Informed, Make a Plan, Get Prepared. It’s Not If, But When Disaster Will Strike.
Gil Patton, Emergency Management Coordinator, Executive Coordination Center Officer, U.S. Department of Homeland Security – RETIRED
Current CEO of The ASSET Center
The ASSET Center 