July 7, 2008 (Monday)
I had dinner with Janet and David in Pearland on the Fourth of July. I left their house to go back home in the Heights, usually a thirty-minute trip via I45 and I10, skirting downtown Houston, around 9:00 p.m., just in time to get into the traffic created by those who had been to the giant fireworks display. It took me an extra hour to get home.
When I got to Loop 610, going north, I thought, “I probably should take 610 and make sure I don’t get into a big traffic jam up there where the people will be jamming the freeways around downtown, but I made a bad choice by remaining on my accustomed route.
As I neared downtown, I accidentally got in an exit lane; taking that exit would have been a wise decision. But I was not sure about where it might lead me, so I decided to work my way back into the next lane, with which I was familiar. Bad choice again. When I got past the exit, traffic stopped completely. For 30 minutes, no one around me moved an inch. I assume that was because all the people who had been parked in the emergency lane to watch the fireworks were now entering the main lanes ahead of me, where I could not see.
So I made two choices, both wrong.
Life is a series of choices. If you make a bad one, it will bring consequences. Be prepared to live with the results of your decisions. To sit and cry and bemoan your mistakes will get you nowhere. To blame others is fruitless. Make your choices. If you’ve made a bad one, learn from it and next time make a better choice. Don’t be a baby. Grow up. Learn to make better choices.
Oh, yes, decide to keep plenty of gas in your car. That’s another story.