Weekly Thought – February 12, 2019
“That’s the saddest sound I ever heard.”
Nestle Quik ran an ad campaign featuring the slurping of a straw in an empty glass of chocolate milk. The tag line was always, “That’s the saddest sound I ever heard.” A few weeks ago that came to mind as I was listening to people listening their lifetime regrets. Over and over they agonized over the “coulda, shoulda, wouldas” with clear agony.
Living life in the rear view mirror makes us vulnerable to crashes because we don’t see what is ahead.
I believe God weaves all the threads together in His sovereignty. Camping out on the jobs not taken, relationships undeveloped, and money misspent is unhealthy, leading to chronic unhappiness.
Certainly, we all make mistakes….we all do dumb things… we all long for do-overs. BUT, it is destructive to rehash, review, and rehearse those sad sounds. When Ross Perot ran for President he had a famous campaign phrase to connote the trade imbalance between the US and other countries: “a giant sucking sound.” Years later I still hear references made to Perot’s comment. Allowing the past to cripple the present is a giant sucking sound.
Maybe it is a good thing to think about that saddest sound, face it, evaluate it, and then go fill the glass back up with yummy chocolate milk.
The Broadway musical, The Fantastiks, reminded us “the heart without hurts is hollow.” We don’t seek out pain for that is sadism. But seeing it for what it is and properly integrating it into our lives is realism. No, we didn’t get a blue ribbon every time. And a lot of times we didn’t even get honorable mention, but hopefully we learned something. As Christians our goal should be to “glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Part of that enjoyment is seeing His hand in all the goods and bads, knowing He has a purpose.
2019 won’t be perfect. But it can be a time of proper perspective. Let’s stop sucking on that straw in the empty glass – it is counterproductive and irritates everyone around us. This is a year for hope!