I Wish I Had's are No Good

So way back in another life it seems, I met a beautiful soul named Ken, who was one of my volunteers at a nature center where I worked. (Doesn’t he look like Walter Matthau?)
He and his lovely wife Mary have been like part of our family. In retirement, they were full time RVers, traveling about, spreading goodness like little seeds wherever they landed for a few weeks or months.

They’ve given up the wandering and now have a home in Minnesota. Good grief, I miss their winter visits to Florida. Here’s a bit of wisdom Ken recently shared with me in an e-mail. Thought I’d pass it on:


“So are you learning to take it a bit easy on the work and volunteering, to carve out a little more time for doing relaxing fun things with self, friends, and family? I hope so. Life goes by so quickly that if you don't create some fun/pleasant personal memories along the way you'll be my age before you know it with a whole bag of "I wish I had"s. I know people like that and they make me glad that I screwed off along the way, even if I didn't achieve my full career potential (boring).”


First Thought: Ken developed devices that made pace makers possible. And he did the first electrocardiogram on a wild whale. Didn’t achieve his full career potential? Oh man. One could only imagine what that would have looked like.

Second thought: Back to the point. “I wish I had’s” are no good. This needs to be my daily mantra. Thanks to Ken and to all those I come across in life who bring me back to the point.