I hope Pea doesn’t fail to see the magnificence of life’s little choices.
Sometimes the littlest decisions can lead to the greatest outcomes.
(Cue Flashback Sequence.)
I’m four, standing at the edge of a freshly resurfaced hockey rink. It is my first day or organized hockey and I’m crying my eyes out, refusing to set foot on the ice. My mom, likely considering both my youthful trepidation and the non-refundable fee she’d already paid for my participation, decides to give me one last word of encouragement before pushing me onto the ice and closing the door. Twenty-six years later, I’m still playing hockey once a week and loving the sport as much as ever.
Sometimes the littlest decisions can lead to the greatest outcomes.
(Cue Flashback Sequence.)
I’m four, standing at the edge of a freshly resurfaced hockey rink. It is my first day or organized hockey and I’m crying my eyes out, refusing to set foot on the ice. My mom, likely considering both my youthful trepidation and the non-refundable fee she’d already paid for my participation, decides to give me one last word of encouragement before pushing me onto the ice and closing the door. Twenty-six years later, I’m still playing hockey once a week and loving the sport as much as ever.
It’s Grade 10 and I choose a locker close to the guy’s washroom. I want to be able to go pee in between classes and not have to sprint down the hallway, pushing unsuspecting students/teachers out of the way as I curse my tiny bladder. As it turns out, the Pod had chosen the locker right beside mine and by the end of the year my wooing strategy was in full effect.
Wait a second, did the Pod purposely choose a locker close to the guy’s washroom?… naw, it couldn’t be…
I digress.
(End Flashback Sequence.)
As days turn to weeks, and weeks to months, I again find myself wondering what little decisions we are making today that will profoundly impact Pea’s tomorrow. I’m fairly certain that my mother couldn’t predict that pushing me on the ice would have such an outcome. She may have hoped, but knowing for certain is impossible.
Perhaps the switch from purees to a diet consisting mainly of finger foods will put Pea on a path towards the culinary arts.
Perhaps the Rockabye Baby – Bob Marley CD we play for Pea while she sleeps will one day inspire her to pick up a pick and strum the guitar.
Maybe Pea’s love for Oopsie the Care Bear will one day inspire her to work for Kenner and create a Care Bear known as Superfantastic, modeled after her father. This bear would be incredibly handsome, with a keen wit and a firm but fair demeanor. It would be the bestselling Care Bear ever and Pea would become ridiculously wealthy from Care Bear royalties and shower her parents with untold riches.
To me, the best thing about the cause and effect nature of these choices is that you don’t know what the end result will be. No matter how much we’d like to think we can script the future, the truth is that great and wonderful coincidences are going to shape our lives and we are powerless to stop them.
All we can do is enjoy the outcomes.
I may not know what I want my Pea to become, but I hope she doesn’t fail to see the magnificence of life’s little choices.
Actually, it was the closest locker available to the girls' washroom. I never realized what prime positioning I was in... Although, I'm sure guys aren't at their best exiting the washroom. There's likely some adjusting going on. I don't know why I think that...a misconception perhaps...should've paid more attention in high school.
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