Seize the (Fri)day!
My son is a senior in high school and has been doing school virtually all year. He plays in the band, and the band director has managed to have two outdoor, masked, socially distanced concerts. They’re voluntary, and my son has done both of them. For the second one he mentioned that the music wasn’t very interesting and the band didn’t sound good, and I asked him if he was sorry he did it. He said no, because it could be his last chance to play in his high school band. I pointed out that there will be one last concert in the spring and he said “Well, it’s scheduled, but there’s no guarantee it will actually happen.” Ah… he’s embraced the “Post-Covid Mindset.” On a recent trail run, I decided to run without headphones so I could just think, and my brain definitely took advantage of that opportunity! At one point I could see the lights from our high school’s football field in the distance, and I got sad about my son’s senior year. Normally the band plays at football games. Even though I really enjoy attending the games, last year I only went to one. My schedule was busy and I had all sorts of reasons for not going, but I also didn’t try as hard as I could have. That’s okay, I thought. I’ll go to every single game next year! Well. We all know what happened. There was no “next year.” If I could go back in time, I would have gone to every game when I had the chance! Who would have thought everything would be canceled like this? That’s the biggest lesson I learned from Covid. Don’t just think you can do it tomorrow. Don’t put off getting that crown because you assume the dentist will still be there next month (this actually happened to me last spring.) Do it today! On this trail run I took a few chances, not knowing exactly where I would end up or how long it would take me. But it was a beautiful day and… I didn’t want to wait until next time. I could have waited until I was ready to run a little further, but now I know that the only thing guaranteed is what’s happening right now- so we have to lean in and embrace every experience while we can. Happy Friday! Let’s make it amazing.