1226 What's the worst decision you've ever made?

That was a topic on a talk show this morning, but the phone rang and I didn't hear what the guest said to do to get out of it. However, at 65 I've got to admit that even the awful decisions, or the ones I agonized about, smooth out over time. Bad ones lead to changes or modifications which evolve into good ones, which maybe wouldn't have come along if you'd done it right the first time.

I remember about 20 years ago we bought a lot on a lake in Indiana on a whim. We'd been out on a moonlit boat ride on a lovely summer night, and for some stupid reason offered the people $10,000 for a lot for which they were asking $25,000. We continued on to Illinois and didn't give it another thought until we got a phone call that our offer had been accepted. I was stunned, and almost physically ill. We kept it about a year, paying the assessment and real estate tax and mowing costs (it was waterfront with improvements, including trees). We listed it and sold it for $25,000. With expenses, realtor's fee and capital gains taxes, we still came out ahead. But I don't dabble in real estate anymore.

Deciding to be a foreign language major in college was a terrible decision at the time. I loved the cultures and the people, but really had no talent for language. Eventually, however, it lead me to Library Science, a field I loved after I was in it, but which definitely was a second choice--one I wouldn't have pursued if it hadn't been right under my nose in 1965.

A Bible promise I hold dear is Joel 2:25: "I will restore to you the years which the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame."