risk

2 more hours and my female owner will be at the hospital, waiting to do her LASIK. In her classic scenario-planning/ fortune-telling style, her predominant thought is “what if I go blind?”

My female owner is not a risk-taker. At times when she seems to take risks or do dangerous things, it is usually out an emotional rash-ness, e.g. pissed off by someone or when the consequences are trivial. Otherwise, she tends towards the trialled and tested routes and hesitates to venture out into unchartered waters. In addition, my female owner takes a long time to make important decisions, because she weighs all the pros and cons and ends up being stuck. The cons will somehow negate the pros and she is none the wiser on which path to take.

Her non-risk taking behaviour can be exemplified in the major decisions she make in her life - a career in the public service where an iron rice-bowl is more or less guaranteed, a conventional tertiary education where working hard/ rote learning gets you somewhere, a career choice that is definitely marketable. Even driving. She took such a long time (about 5 years) to get over the “risk” of getting into an accident while driving.

“What if?”

“What if?”

My female owner generally needs to be assured of success before she embarks on any major decision. She does not really tolerate uncertainty very well, unless uncertainty can be controlled by her actions.

Doing LASIK (see? I’m still on topic) brings about a great level of uncertainty that is out of her hands. Thinking of how irreversible the decision is freaks her out. The post-operation care is tedious – no bathing, no exercising, no rubbing of eyes, minimal computer and TV exposure, no sudden movements, no driving etc… One of the reasons why she agreed to do LASIK is because she is tired of living in fear and what-ifs, when the rest of the world is moving on..

Ah, but at crunch time, she is starting to panic and wonder if LASIK is the way to go. Haiz...The way she is coping with her insecurities is to keep praying for God’s protection. All the best!