As Steve was teaching this week at drill, he displayed a picture on the screen of a sinking boat with the following quote, “It could be that the purpose of your life is to serve as a warning to others!” The quote stuck with me because of an unexpected phone call this week. It was from someone we haven't heard from in maybe 15 years. While it was good to hear from this person, it took us back to an time uncomfortable time in our lives. I don't know about you, but I don't always like to be reminded of where I was in my life a long time ago, you know, of these “ooh, what a stupid jerk I was…” times (see former blog post, “Oh, What a Stupid Jerk I was…!”). My wife compared it to all the skeletons in the proverbial closet coming out in a teasing mocking dance.
Today, as we near 60 years old, both my wife and I feel like we finally have a pretty good grip on things. We feel like we matured in our relationships with others, including with our children who are now all adults, as well as in our practical and spiritual life. We can look back at where we've been, laugh at ourselves and use the stupid things we did in the past as practical life examples to teach others today. So whereas we feel uneasy about certain events in our past, the lessons we have learned from it have become the invaluable and indispensable tool in our ‘medical kit’. The thing about life is that it can not be learned from a book. Just like a carpenter learns his trade by practicing carpentry ’, an EMT by being faced with medical emergencies, a firefighter by drilling and enacting fire scenarios, life is learned through ‘living’, and we generally learn much more from our mistakes than from our successes. So next time you feel uncomfortable about your past, think of all the lessons you've learned, think of all the life training it afforded you, and remember that it is not just the arrival at the destination that is important, but what we learn along the way, the lessons we gather in our journey. Who knows, "It could be that the purpose of your life is to serve as warning to others!”
2 Comments
Julia Sempio
5/20/2016 04:53:02 pm
That is so true. I have a motto I live by and it is this: "No matter what I am going through I will have NO regrets and to LEARN from everything." This has served me well.
Reply
Rick Coe
6/8/2016 03:37:33 am
I love this story. I have some skeletons in my closet that I'd rather forget. I'm learning how important it is to not stan in aq of others unless something is so gross I can't shut up about it. I think people should not have sex change operations and I think it should be against the law to perform those operations. If G-d wanted us to be another sex he would have made us that way. Do you agee?
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
If you appreciate these articles, support their upcoming publication in a book called, "REFLECTIONS OF A FIRE CHAPLAIN"
|