A Shame

Pretty sick of people not taking responsibility for their actions.

Pretty sad that so many people miss opportunities.

A drunk driver and an amazing entrepreneur.

So you all know about the crash on our block, the 46 year old drunk driver and the fact that he'd done it twice.

Well yesterday I met with a guy, 56 years old, and just living the life. He went from owning several ski outfitter shops to operating an incredible rafting and kayaking business. He didn't have a perfect plan, just a willingness to adapt and work hard. So now he works alongside one of the most beautiful stretches of Adirondack wilderness surrounded by people who love what they are doing.

The 46 year old pathetically tried to flee the scene. He was small and weak looking, his drunken head hanging on his chest and a small paunch hanging over the waist band of his pants, the strobe lights from the squad cars coloring his stooped frame.

The 56 year old man glowed, coppery red hair curling wildly around his freckled face, tapping feet clad in a pair of khaki Crocs, and jet black sunglasses shielding his eyes from the sparkling waters of the Hudson beneath the late August sun.

10 years and worlds apart.

One man pursued a goal and rode the currents of his success to a new venture and a truly enviable existence. Another gave up and gave in to his demons, threatening everyone around him and leaving a wake of devastation in the process.

Wallow in failure and anger?

Work hard and reap the rewards?

Hmmm...hard work and rewards look and feel much better than failure and twisted metal.

I mean seriously, if given the choice between a miserable, lonely life with alcohol as your blinders or surrounding yourself with the sounds of laughter and contentment what would you choose?

Now you might say the driver of the car doesn't have the option of a thriving business on the Hudson or he has no happy people that he can surround himself with, but I would beg to differ.

We choose our paths. We pick the people we choose to have around us. We get to wake up each day and say:

Today, I am going to be happy. Today I am going to pursue the things that make me happy.

Or we can wake up and say:

So far my choices have brought me nothing but sadness, anger and loneliness, I think I'll keep doing that because it's easier than swallowing my pride or working to experience joy. Yup, today I will continue in pathetic misery.

It can be done people. I quit smoking. It wasn't easy. I would never want to have to do it again, but I did it.
You can quit drinking. You can put down the cake. Choose not to turn on the tv. You can do it.

And I would say you have to do it. You get one life and the brutal truth is that it is so piercingly short you must devour each minute you are given.

I hope that second incident will be enough to get that guy on the other path, the path that goes somewhere. Because the other is just such a tragic waste.