That Embarrassing Thing I Did in College
March 4, 2024
In the grand scheme of life, I have not arrived at who I am today because of my successes.
I am who I am because of my failures. Sounds harsh, maybe, but I take stumbles seriously, thanks to their inherent value.
Here are two of my classic malfunctions:
Tough love event:
Not getting selected for the Chorale singing group my first year of college.
Background:
During childhood in a town of eighty people, I was not accustomed to losing. Winning typically came easily because there wasn’t much competition.
What I learned:
How to fail with grace. I pouted and cried in seclusion, then took voice lessons. As it turns out, I am a soprano, not an alto, so I had been singing the wrong parts. I tried out for the same group the following year and was selected. Here I am with Mickey at Disneyland during our southwest U.S. Chorale tour in May 1986.
Tough love event:
Almost getting charged with a minor in possession offense when I was in 8th grade.
Background:
My classmate and I made the doofus decision to drink a beer while sitting on the trunk of a car parked on main street in Elba, Nebraska. I don’t recall who gave us each a bottle of Miller beer, but we had just sat down with our beers when a county sheriff’s deputy, who knew my family well, pulled up and asked what we were doing. He got out of the police car, looked around, looked me straight in the eye, and said something to this effect: “How dumb are you?” Then he poured out our beers and left.
What I learned:
I am a horrible law breaker. And extremely fortunate.
“We don’t grow when things are easy. We grow when we face challenges.” Thank you, Zig Ziglar, for the insight! I have had lots of opportunities to grow.
Before signing off, are you feeling spring vibes? I definitely am, but I miss the crabapple tree in our front yard that was lost during last year’s tornado. For one week each April, it bloomed with a vibrant shade of fuchsia pink flowers. I will always treasure this photo from several years ago, when the tree was ablaze with dawning glory.
To all my favorite mistakes,
