Next time I will listen
May 7, 2008
I kid myself that I have psychic powers. No. What I’m really trying to say is that I have an inner voice. This inner voice rings alarm bells when things don’t feel right. It has premonitions. It comes up with ideas that are so clever I sometimes wonder if its actually me. The only problem is I generally ignor it.
I pulled up in Richmond the weekend before last to do a spot of shopping in between dropping Emma at a bowling party and picking Kathleen up from drama. I like to check out the shops in Bridge Rd, not necessarliy to always buy. I had time to kill that day. As I parked the car I had a weird premonition that I would meet someone I knew. Sure enough, as I was pulling out of my parking spot half an hour later a close friend wandered into view strolling up the other side of Bridge Rd with her new boyfriend (likely found on the internet, but that’s beside the point).
I was at slalom training last night with Rosie. Despite the down pour of rain we had during our session, we had a lot of fun. Our coach set up a little course for us and timed each of our runs. Rosie is generally faster than me. (A fact I find difficult to swallow). On one of my runs I went really hard and cleared all of the gates to beat Rosie and others in the group by a good three seconds. I basked in my victory, which was short-lived because I didn’t listen to my inner voice. It said, “quit while you are ahead”. I actually felt really tired and didn’t feel like doing another run, but when our coach announced we had time for one more each, I went for it anyway. On the third gate, my hand slipped on the draw stroke and I knocked myself on the helmet with my paddle. This action not only slowed me down a couple of seconds, it was noticed by everyone in the group who launched into fits of laughter. They were still laughing when I completed my run and paddled back up to join them. “Did you notice what I did?”, I asked sheepishly. “Oh yes, it was hilarious!”, replied my coach. “What did it look like?”. “Donk!”. The coach and Rosie delightedly demonstrated knocking themselves in the head with their paddles. “Do I get points for entertainment value?”, I enquired. I laughed along with everyone else despite my embarrasment (laughter being fairly contageous), but I regretted the run. I should have listened to my inner voice.
I think for me you’ve pretty much nailed what regret generally boils down to – not listening to the inner voice. With hindsight, so many times….*sigh*
Anyway, good job you were wearing a helmet
It’s good that you could see the funny side.
Yes, we’ve all but lost the ability to to listen to our inner voice and trust our instinct.
When the phone rings, very often the first person who pops into my head is the person calling.
Thanks for that practical consolation there trousers
Sounds like you have a story or two to tell yourself!
Hi earthpal. I was much more comfortable with the fact that they found it openly hilarious than if they had tried to console my pride.
The first time someone preempted using my name when I called them I thought they must have had psychic powers. Gosh, how did you know it was me? I asked. Because your name is in my contact list on my mobile. Duh. (It was before I had my own mobile phone).