When I was young, we used to go camping at a place called Pretty Beach Caravan Park. We started off camping with tents, then moved on to renting cabins/caravans, until eventually my dad bought a lot and a caravan to go with it. We always went with his girlfriend and her children, or her friends and their children. Needless to say, it was always quite a busy time.
I could fill 100 posts with stories from that place, but this one really stands out because I was given the greatest advice I have ever received. My dad and I were in the caravan playing poker. Well, he was teaching me how to play poker. I think this memory really stands out because we never really got a lot of time to spend together alone. Either he was busy working, or with his girlfriend or any number of things. So, yeah, its easy to see why staying up late being taught how to play a "grown up" game with my dad one on one can stand out in my memory.
I had one hand that had a pair of queens, one of them clubs, and two other clubs and something else. This was one of the first hands we were playing closed (as in, my dad wasnt looking at my hand this time to help me), and I decided I would put down a queen and the other card and go for the flush (all 5 cards were the same suit). So I got my two cards and sadly, ended up with nothing that would win me the game. When my dad revealed a pair of 9's for the win, I got a little annoyed. Dad looked at the queen I threw away and told me "Never throw away what you have for something you could get".
I could have won with the pair of queens, but instead I tried to get greedy and go for something bigger. And I missed out because of it. Such an innocent memory has turned out to be one of the best lessons I have learned in life. It can be applied to more than just poker.
In 2004, I did the most despicable thing I will ever do in life. I broke up with (Sorta cheated on... its a hazy line) my girlfriend so I could be with someone else. The someone else wasn't really a good match for me. She was hot, and she was a lot of fun, but she didnt have what I would look for in a partner. I was just really young, really stupid (and really horny). I dont know why it came to me, but after it all played out and ended up with my first girlfriend and me both being heartbroken, I realised that my dad's advice, given to me more than a decade earlier could be applied in many different situations beyond poker.
Basically, it can be summed up very simply. Appreciate the things in life you already have. Its so easy to overlook things, people, situations. So easy to take it all for granted. I was once married. Without going into the how's or why's, that situation ended and I looked back on it for the longest time and realised I had everything I had ever wanted in life, and I lost it because I did not appreciate it enough. There is probably a hell of a lot more too it than that, but I strongly feel my life could be in a completely different place right now had I realised where I was already at, instead of dreaming about where I could have been.
I feel that I have a firm handle on this lesson. I make sure those around me know how much I love and appreciate them. I might come off a little goofy at times, by saying stuff like "Thanks for doing X, I really appreciate it", because no-one talks like that these days. But I think people notice I go that little extra to acknowledge them, and show that I appreciate the effort they made to make my life easier. I let my girlfriend know on a daily basis that I love her, appreciate and value her, because I learned the consequences can be bad when you just assume your partner knows it.
Hopefully now, I will never again have to face the loss of a loved one because I took them for granted, or I threw them aside in an effort to get something better.
Amazing =) and so true.
ReplyDelete