Sooner Rather than Too Later – Making Mistakes #1
My Pet Peeve
You know what I used to hate? I hated it when someone dies tragically and a grieving relative says, “Well, at least he died doing what he loves.” When I would hear that in my mind I would be yelling “HE DID NOT LOVE HAVING HIS BODY TORN TO PIECES BY A GRIZZLY BEAR! THAT IS NOT WHAT HE LOVED! People like dying in their sleep at age 100 with no pain and a long life. That is how people love to die!”
A Different Understanding
Ok, so I sort of know that is not what they really meant. But it sounds like it at times. What they really meant was this person who died was out living life, choosing to not worry about the possibilities of death to such a degree that it stopped them from doing what they loved. Would they have chosen to not try to feed the grizzly bear that day? Yes. But then again maybe they would have still died if they stayed in the warmth of the cabin that morning. After all, we all are going to die, right? We can be as careful as we want and we still won’t avoid it.
Sooner Rather than Too Later
Delaying your life because you are afraid of making a mistake is a big mistake. Are you a planner? Then plan something now that you love to do. Are you the spontaneous type? Then focus that spontaneity in an area that really matters to you and go do it. It doesn’t have to be some death defying adventure. Your big ‘mistake’ can be going to a museum. Your big ‘mistake’ can be taking a Sunday drive to that small town 100 miles away that you have heard had a great ice cream shop. The point is to break through your paralysis of fear of making a mistake and go. The alternative is the scene in the Napkin above.
I don’t want a tombstone that reads, “You Know What I Would Like To Try…” I want it to say, “I made the best mistakes EVER!”
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Tallulah Bankhead, 1902-1968, American actress
She was a great source of quotes in Hollywood. She also said,
“It’s the good girls who keep diaries, the bad girls never have time.”
“I will come make love to you at 5 o’clock. If I am late, start without me.”
“I am as pure as the driven slush.”
Ms. Bankhead at Finocchio’s with female impersonators
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If I had to live my life again, I’d make the same mistakes, only sooner.