Sunday, October 30, 2005

"He Who Hesitates" Re-Visited

First of all, this is not my photo. But it could have been!

After my "He who hesitates is lost" post, I started thinking about my biggest and best (worst?) "lost" episode. It was 1969 and I was in the foothills of the Andes in Peru, starting the long process of putting the Campa Pajonal indigenous language into writing. Six months in, Bill (my college sweetheart) and I decided to get married. And he was in Michigan!

So I went back to Lima to get everything in order to leave. During that two weeks, my friends decided to take a weekend trip to Machu Picchu and asked me to join them. Guess what! I declined...for no better reason than that my mind was only on getting home to Bill. I had the time and money. Just not the "living in the NOW!"

Machu Picchu: One of the great wonders of the world! Just a hop, skip and a jump away! An opportunity I may never have again! WHAT WAS I THINKING!

Ahhh, yes. The woulda, coulda, shoulda's of our lives! Hopefully I've learned my lesson by now on that level, but I wonder if we ever really learn to live NOW in this moment, which is all we have?

1 comment:

  1. Yes, PG, I remember reading Steve's post. Very apropos! Thanks. If I'm in too much of a hurry to take a shot or if I'm afraid of slowing everyone else down (or just Donica), I have to consider that I may never have that particular chance again.

    The decisions of LIFE!

    ReplyDelete

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