The Older Man

The older man was sitting at his kitchen table, reading the newspaper, when the phone rang. Getting up, he went into the bedroom and answered the phone. It was his brother. He hadn’t heard from him in a while and it was a pleasure to hear his voice. His brother was excited as his wife was opening a flower shop. The older man wished them luck and the conversation turned to the Super Bowl, which had been played the previous day.

“Did you watch the game?” his brother asked.

“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” the older man replied.

“Could you believe the onside kick the Saints pulled off at the start of the second half?” he asked.

They both had been totally surprised by the coach’s decision for this play. The discussion went on for the next twenty minutes and finally, after beating it to death, they hung up.

The older man returned to the kitchen and the newspaper he was reading. The sports section was open to the analysis of the game. Turning the page he came across another writers take on the game. This writer believed the coach’s decision changed the course of the game. If the kick had failed and the Colts had won, the coach would have been considered a goat. Putting the paper down the older man began to think about this article.

In life we all have to make decisions.  A decision is usually life altering: changing jobs, moving to another state, getting married, having a child, buying a house, having chemotherapy, etc… Life altering decisions take longer to decide.  The majority of decisions seem to have two choices which are viewed as either this or that. Many seek out information and knowledge from a variety of sources but this usually adds more confusion. It doesn’t matter how much knowledge you accumulate the decision still has to be made. Many view decisions as right or wrong. This adds more stress as they don’t want to make the wrong choice. There is always a third alternative which is to do nothing.  The people who chose this way figure waiting will help them. However, their decision is, to do nothing. We weigh the options against each other and choose. We won’t know if we made the right choice until later. Some of our decisions make us look like a genius, and others like a fool. When the decision we make turns out bad we feel we made the wrong choice. This leads to regrets. If only I knew this or that I would have made the right decision. People don’t realize all decisions are made with the knowledge and experience you have acquired. Two days later we could make a different decision as we have more experience. People should never beat themselves up over their decisions. Some people make the same decisions over and over again, because they have not learned from their past decisions. These individuals always have regrets.

The older man came out of his thoughts and turned the next page. Regrets he had none, and thus none to remember.

With kindest regards, Judowolf