Life Lessons

Growing up, my parents urged me to make “good choices”; I loved my parents, but seriously, this has got to be on the top of the list of one of the classics they spewed forth that were great in theory, tough in execution and almost impossible to carry out.

How do you even know if your decision was the correct one until you wander down the path and past the point of no return?  Time plays an essential element, too.  What seemed like a good idea at the time might turn out to be something to chalk up to experience and store away never to see the light of day.  Or, as a wise person once said “did you learn something from it?… if you did, it was worth it.”  This, however, may be debatable and used only as a tactic from someone who did something worse and is trying to justify their own behavior.

On the heels of trying to making selections of the preferred type, I learned (and will continue to modify and expand upon) many other lessons during the journey.  My favorite, which happens to still be in service on a regular basis, is that it is easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask permission.  My general philosophy is that why get a full out “no” when you can manipulate and maneuver a “maybe” or possibly a “yes”?  However, this viewpoint is on the verge of being overused, underappreciated and getting much too much play with celebrities in the media these days.  And the fact that they can get away with saying an overly simple “sorry” for their contrived actions, words and behaviors after the fact without any strings attached, let alone emotion or meaning is tarnishing this once useful strategy.  Shame on them for ruining it for the rest of us.

Another handy dandy insight that was handed down to me is that good manners go a long way.  This may be obvious, but have you been out in public lately?  There is hardly a please or thank you to be found, let alone an excuse me or may I help you?  Where have all the proper protocols gone?  Is everyone in too much of a hurry to put forth polite performances on the most basic of levels to their fellow person?  No wonder the world has gone a little crazy when we can’t even give the time of day to our neighbor.  We all are too busy and wrapped up in our own lives to stop and see what the other guy is doing and in the process won’t let them get close to know us either.  As an experiment, try wishing someone a good day, open the door for a person with their arms full or smile at a stranger… if you don’t get slugged, arrested or ridiculed for the gesture, you may start a new trend.

As my parents before me, I too am emitting my own words of wisdom onto my child.  Who, currently, does not appreciate anything I say or do (as a teenager, he is on the road of self discovery and the profound knowledge that parents are old and know nothing).  What I can wish for is that he does what I did and use these helpful hints as pearls when a situation presents itself and that he will be able to pull forth from the vast reservoir of trivia that he holds and apply if necessary.  And, there is always the hope that someday I return to being smart and can tell him I told him so… it may not be today or tomorrow, but I can hold out as long as my parents did and then bask in the glory of that day.

Cynthia A. McClelland, curious observer of the obvious with interpretations of the oddities of daily life.  Mother, wife and lover of the furry, resides in the north Lake Tahoe area.

Cynthia A. McClelland © 2003-