Friday, July 25, 2003
Friday, July 25, 2003 |
| You
don't get any do-overs in life, and it's a good thing you don't
By Rick Ryckeley "Everything in this life happens for a reason. You may not understand why at the time, but looking back years from now, it'll be clear to you." This was just one of many gems of information which my dad passed onto me while we resided at 110 Flamingo Street. I had just crashed and lost the annual Start of the Summer Bike Race. The Red Stinger sat in the garage, with front wheel bent and right peddle torn off from the accident. Me? Except for a couple of "skint" knees, a cut hand and a bruised ego I came out of the crash okay. I told my dad that during the last turn Down-The-Street Bully Brad had ran into me just so I wouldn't win. "I want another chance at that race Dad, I want a do over." Dad brushed off the dirt and washed off the blood, and said, "Son you did the best you could. In life there're no do-overs. There's another race at the end of the summer; you'll try again then." In real life there're no do-overs, but what if there were? What would you do over? If you could do over one thing in your life, what would it be? Would you do-over the Algebra II math final you didn't pass your senior year of high school? How about your first kiss, your first date, or even the first time you wrecked your dad's car? If you could, would you changed who you married, have more or less children, or not have that big fight with your spouse that led to you getting a divorce? If you could pick one thing in your life, just what would you do-over? Would you change your profession, stay in shape while you were young to avoid that operation when you got old, or invest in Microsoft and Home Depot twenty years ago? Would you listen more to your mom or to your dad? Would you pay more attention to your teachers in school, your football coach or your college professor? Would you have bought a house in the neighborhood you're now in, or in the neighborhood across town? If you change any one thing in your life, it will change everything. So just what would you change? If you didn't wreck your dad's car, he wouldn't have made you walk for three months and you wouldn't have learned the valuable lesson of freedom and responsibility. The same lesson you're teaching your kids. (Plus you wouldn't have gotten that new car from your dad on your birthday.) You say you would change the person you married because after two kids and ten years of fighting, you got a divorce? If you didn't marry, you wouldn't have those wonderful children, and they make life worth living. Changing one thing changes everything. If you change your job, just what would you do for a living? I meet teachers who wish they were firefighters. They believe the job to be honorable, and they want to be an American hero. They want to run into burning buildings, fight brush fires, rescue people from wrecked cars, and drive ambulances. They want to make a real difference and help save people one life at a time. I know a firefighter who wishes he was a teacher, so he could walk into a classroom and help save 25 lives at one time and make a real difference. The influence of a teacher continues for a lifetime. What more honorable profession could there be than to educate the future of America? It was a high school coach who taught me when I get knocked down, to get back up and try again - something I've been doing for over forty years. No matter what your profession, you have an influence on people. But if you could, what would you do-over? One sentence, one word is all it takes for you to influence another. Have you said something to your wife or husband or your children you wish you could do-over? Everyone makes mistakes; heck, that's why there are erasers on the end of pencils. In real life there're not any do-overs. You will only be in high school once, only in college once, and only married once. (Okay, maybe twice on that last one.) So you better make the best of whatever stage of life you're 'cause nobody gets a do-over. Another gem from Dad: "Don't keep looking back, or you won't see the bus that's about to run you over." What would I change if I could have a do-over? As a firefighter, I would change that car crash where the person who wasn't wearing a seat belt died. As an eight year-old, I would've let more air out of Down-The-Street Bully Brad's bike tires. At the finish line of the End of the Summer Bike Race, he still beat me by two bike lengths. [Rick Ryckeley is employed by the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services. He can be reached at firemanr@bellsouth.net.]
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