Seize the day, but watch what you grab
In a rare deviation from the yarn marketers are paid to spin, this is a true story.
As a conscripted recruit over a decade ago, my daily objective was unwavering: get away with doing as little as possible. The point came when I was given a choice as to which of two guts-and-glory paths I would prefer to pursue for the remainder of my military stint. It is hardly surprising that I declined both and requested the path of least resistance – or so it was perceived.
The interviewer, roughly twice my age, took it in his stride. With a knowing nod, he said:
Be careful what you wish for, because what you think you want may not be what you think it is.
I didn’t get what I thought I wanted, and I’m thankful. Because true enough, it wasn’t quite what I imagined it to be.
The moral of this story is simply that whoever tells you to seize life by the balls often forgets to say keep your eyes open so you know when to let go.
