Choices

In his earlier career as a father, dad said to me, "Beg, you might want to take what you can get because you might not get what you want." It's that old bird in the hand is better than two somewhere else thing. Well, that troubled me because I usually wanted something pretty badly. But I was young and so I followed his advice. The problem was, available didn't always equate with desirable and there were times when "nothing" was preferable.

It gets even more complicated when what you want finally comes along and you can't grasp it because your hands are already full. You know how it goes. You wait and watch until you decide whatever you were looking for was never out there in the first place, and you take the next best thing. Then, one day when you're no longer looking, there "it" is, standing at your doorstep. Talk about irony.

In his later career as a father, dad surprised me one day by saying, "If it's what you really want, it's not just worth waiting for: pursue it." I wondered aloud what had changed his mind. He responded, "I've watched you; you've always been happiest going after what truly matters." Like a million other times, he left me speechless.

We all hear the ticking of the clock, pounding in our heads like timpani imitating canon fire in the 1812 Overture. Get moving, you can't wait, don't just stand there. It's unnerving, the pressure, and fearful we'll end up empty handed, we may act precipitously. But empty handed isn't necessarily a sign of poverty. It can signify readiness and the ability to choose. And when we've found what's right, then we're free to make it our own.)