Be Prepared: How Girl Guides of Canada Inspires

Contributed by Forever Fit Science founder Virginia Davies

Be Prepared. This was (and still is) the motto of the Girl Guides of Canada – a motto that I repeated at weekly meetings fifty years ago. It is also one of the themes in a delightful story – The Tiger Who Came to Tea – written and illustrated by Judith Kerr. In the story a hungry tiger unexpectedly shows up at the kitchen door just as Sophie and her mother are having tea. Sophie and her mother, ever hospitable, serve the tiger all of their tea; all of their food and even all of their water. The next day, after a happy supper at the local pub, Sophie and her mother buy a large tin of tiger food for the tiger just in case he returns. But he never does.  Sophie and her mother have faced an unexpected event of huge proportion in the context of their world, implemented a happy solution and prepared for the next surprise visit.

Helping our children and grandchildren to be prepared for unforeseen challenges is one of our responsibilities as parents. The Be Prepared motto recognizes that preparedness comprises mental and physical qualities.  As parents and grandparents we are called upon to develop, in a mindful way, preparedness for it is in preparedness that our children will develop the resilience to withstand crisis.

One of the reasons why I took up sprinting three years ago was so that I could improve on my physical preparedness. I would need it for myself and I would need it so I could help my grandchildren develop their preparedness. I want my granddaughter to be prepared when the tiger unexpectedly knocks at her door and demands tea.