The other day I saw a motivational Facebook quote
superimposed over a tranquil landscape scene. It said something to the effect
of “At the end of your life, you’re going to regret the things you didn’t do
and not the things you did do.” It was much more elegant than that, of course,
but even if it wasn’t, it doesn’t matter because I’m pretty sure there was a
waterfall somewhere in that tranquil landscape scene, which automatically
classes up everything. I thought to myself, “Yeah, that’s kind of true. I still
regret not petting that lion at the museum zoo in Niger while I was there.” At
the last moment I decided not to because there were lots of children around,
and I thought it might not be a good example for them, as they had all run up
to
pet the hippo after I did.
But who
cares about that? I should have pet that dang lion through the bars of his
cage. When else am I going to get a chance to do that? Other countries don’t
just let you walk up to the cages with carnivorous animals in them and stick
your hand in to pet them. I will regret not doing that for the rest of my life.
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| Re-creation of Motivational Facebook Quote |
Pause for the moment that it took me to realize that quote
wasn’t intended for people like me. That moment lasted for about 5 minutes of staring at my
computer screen realizing that I am bored writing this dumb concept note that I
should have finished an hour ago and that I’m no longer thinking about wells in
the Guera, but about not petting lions and not shooting that camel with the
Yemeni soldier’s rusty old AK-47 and not going to that one party at that one
place—no wait, I DID do that and I definitely regretted it. Forget waterfalls.
That quote is dumb. Whenever I manage to stop myself from doing something at
the last second, it is usually because common sense finally kicks in. Better
late than never, I guess.
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Anyway, here are some things that I did before I had a
chance to regret them (still waiting to see if the regrets kick in later). And some memes that really spoke to me that I wanted to
share with you.
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Such a tranquil scene-unlike the first time I rode a motorcycle
when I nearly drove off a cliff. I still have a burn scar on my right
calf from the knalpot (I think that is 'muffler' in English)
No regrets. Except I kind of wish I had a motorcycle here... |
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| Rock climbing with the Captain (and Matt) |
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| Ditching the tour to try out the bamboo swing |
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Climbing into this alligator pit.
My parents were with me. They must not love me as much as they say they do. |
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| Eating a scorpion in China. Tastes like chicken. |
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Rolling down a sand dune in the Emirates.
Then combing sand out of my hair for days. |
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| Convincing Melia to climb up the scaffolding with me in Jordan. |
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| All zoos can be petting zoos if you really try. |
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| This could have been me with the lions in Niger...SO MANY REGRETS!!! |
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Swimming in shark and pirate-infested waters,
off the coast of Somalia. |
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| Kissing camels |
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| I don't know...cannon balls are cool. |
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| He's clearly disappointed in the state of civilization these days. |
The other day I saw a motivational Facebook quote
superimposed over a tranquil landscape scene. It said something to the effect
of “At the end of your life, you’re going to regret the things you didn’t do
and not the things you did do.” It was much more elegant than that, of course,
but even if it wasn’t, it doesn’t matter because I’m pretty sure there was a
waterfall somewhere in that tranquil landscape scene, which automatically
classes up everything. I thought to myself, “Yeah, that’s kind of true. I still
regret not petting that lion at the museum zoo in Niger while I was there.” At
the last moment I decided not to because there were lots of children around,
and I thought it might not be a good example for them, as they had all run up
to pet the hippo after I did. But who
cares about that? I should have pet that dang lion through the bars of his
cage. When else am I going to get a chance to do that? Other countries don’t
just let you walk up to the cages with carnivorous animals in them and stick
your hand in to pet them. I will regret not doing that for the rest of my life.
You could've left off the last photo. I can't even read it! But the lion post was a great one. And I do think you misled your readers because you never got in the alligator pit. You're crazy today. That's all!!
ReplyDeletePirate infested waters...yes please. Also, I was considering hitting the zoo with you and the kids while you were here, but now am rethinking that.
ReplyDelete