Life is strange.
As you get older, you are supposed to get wiser. Some of us learn from our mistakes and some of us keep repeating them. We pay for some of our mistakes and get away with others. I believe it is the mistakes we get away with that cost us the most. Let’s take a simple example. Let’s say that the speed limit is 55MPH and you are driving at 60MPH. You probably won’t get a ticket for this. Next time, you drive at 62 and then 64 and then 66 and so on. If you get away with it, you will push the envelope further and further. Pretty soon, you will be driving at 80 in a 55 zone. If you continue to get away with it, the consequences can be quite tragic. There is a reason that the speed limit is 55. Safety! If you meet with an accident at 80MPH, it’s curtains. On the other hand, if you get a ticket at say 67MPH, you will probably stop speeding (at least for a while).
Now extrapolate the above scenario with drinking and driving or doing an illegal act (stealing, fighting, evading taxes, etc. etc.). If you get away with it, your act will grow and grow. The outcome is predictable.
Mistakes don’t just happen. They require thought; at least sub-conscious thought. I have made my share of mistakes and broken my share of rules. Just like everyone else, I paid for some but got away with others. Sometimes mistakes hurt others. It is an unintended consequence of almost all mistakes. Sometimes our mistakes hurt the ones we love the most. Sometimes we don’t even have a chance to say we are sorry or show any remorse. We just have to live with it. It eats us up from the inside. It eats at our soul. Life is strange.
I consider myself an optimist. I try to look at the positive in everything. Even mistakes have a positive outcome in the end. It teaches you lessons and you are better for it.
Lately though, my optimism has waned. I leave for Chicago tomorrow. I will spend a day there and then fly to India. I’m sad that I am leaving Binita and Missy behind. I really wish Binita were coming with me! I took Missy for a quiet walk today. She lived in the moment and was happy. I wish I could do the same.
Jim, Lori and Jamie will be joining to India me in a few days. The cause is noble. Our hearts are in the right place. We will help hundreds of orphan kids with clean running water, a new playground and a few other miscellaneous items (clothes, chocolates, etc.). I just wish my mind were in it too.