It rained continually for the next twenty-four hours, and I was going stir crazy. Finally I thought, it's not cold, just wet, I can handle that... so I put on my running gear and headed out.
A half mile or so from the house, already soaked, but reconciled to my fate, I was moving gingerly around a bunch of deeper puddles when a car pulled up beside me. Matching my pace, the driver called out, "Going for a run?"
I pulled my attention off the road and turned toward the voice. It was police officer, there to protect and serve according to the sign on the side of the car. The first response to his question that crossed my mind was, "No, actually I'm at home watching Sunday Night Football..." However, I thought better of saying that out loud and instead said, "That's right Officer."
Then he said, "Be careful and don't get hit...you hear."
I instantly thought of a number of responses to that well thought out piece of advice but had sense enough not to repeat any of them out loud. Instead I said, "Thanks, Officer."
As he drove out of sight, I figured that at least I didn't have to worry about him hitting me unless he doubled back and slipped up behind me. And then I thought, this is a perfect example of an ongoing conversation Christina and I have been having the past few days. The essence of that conversation is, by and large we are running our lives on bad advice and poorly thought out opinions, because that's what we had in our formative years.
What the police officer told me was no different that what your parents, teachers, and other mentors told you at a time when you were too young to know they were being stupid.
The issue is, we didn't know it was stupid, so we've spent a lifetime with their stupidity guiding us, and we'll go to our graves doing it if don't smarten up and take a look at some of the idiocy that has passed for our guiding truths.
Happy hunting and be careful that you don't get hit...you hear?
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