"Face" The Choice Without Losing Your Nose!

This blog crosses a few labels but I put it under "Gratitude Moments" because it taught my oldest daughter a lesson that I think we can all learn from so I give gratitude for that lesson in a not so painful manner.

Many years ago when my oldest daughter was about 11, we visited Disney Land. We told the girls they could buy any piece of jewelry they wanted. The older two girls both picked out the same ring in sterling with the main Disney characters on it.

The rings were a bit big on the girls but I told them we could keep them until they fit and they would always be a fun keepsake and an heirloom they could hand them down to their children as they were made of sterling silver.

After returning home, we were going to a family gathering in a city about three hours drive from our home. My oldest daughter asked if she could wear her ring. I told her I would let her choose but I thought it was too big and she would risk the chance of loosing the ring and thought it better to wait until it fit her better.

Being an excited 11 year old, she put the ring on her middle finger and she sat in the front seat of the van as we drove the 3 hour drive. While on the way to our destination through very lonely roads, she ate an apple. We had merged onto a larger interstate highway and she finished the apple and wanted to throw the core out the window. We aren't in the habit of littering but if it will fertilize, we figure it isn't littering. So, I roll down the window and she proceeds to throw out the core.

After she threw it, she screamed that her ring had come off as well and went out the window. I was going 75 mph (the speed limit) and we were getting closer to a bigger city. I wasn't sure what to do but could see a few miles in the distance an exit ramp. I took the exit and drove back to the last exit and then reentered the highway. We drove as slowly as I dared in the slow lane and I told her we would never find the ring in the setting sun but if we focused on finding the apple core, we could then search the area beyond it for the ring as the ring would be heavier, it would go further but drop quicker as it wasn't thrown.

Once getting to the point where we could see the exit sign, I knew we were close and pulled into the breakdown lane so I could slow even more. We found the apple core. I stopped the car and we peered out. I suggested we pray for help. It may seem silly to pray for a ring but it was such an important thing to her. I got out and started walking in the breakdown area. After going a hundred feet or so, I thought this wasn't such a good idea as traffic picked up and a kindly elderly couple stopped and asked if they could help.

After explaining what I was doing and getting odd looks from the couple, I figured maybe it wasn't smart for me to be walking the highway looking for a $25 ring. As I thanked them for stopping and offering to help, I turned to head back to the car. Something caught my eye that was sparkling in the sunset. I couldn't see it before because of the angle of the sun. I quickly ran over and it was her ring.

It had scrapes and was missing Mickey's nose but she was so happy to have it back even with the scrapes. We talked the rest of our trip about how sometimes things in life seem so exciting that we try to make ourselves "fit" into that ideal or what others make sound "exciting" or "what everyone is doing" even if it doesn't "fit" what we know to be right or true. We sometimes will do things we don't feel are right or we know aren't good for us because we want to "fit in" with others.

She knew the ring was big and didn't quite fit yet. She wanted to try on something that she wasn't ready to wear. We talked about making mistakes sometimes and how you can perhaps turn around and try to go back and get to the place you were at before the mistake happened but, even when you do, you may not "find" yourself as we did the ring, we could have easily not found it.

You may go back to before the mistake and "find" yourself and start fresh but you can never go back to the clean and innocent or purer person as there will be some marks or consequences left on your memory, experience or life.

Sometimes others don't notice the "missing nose" or "scrapes" and you can pretend the mistake or bad choice didn't happen but in the end the scrapes and dings are still there. There are always natural consequences to our actions and if we are lucky, we can quickly correct our path before we get ruined with many bumps, scrapes and dings.

I told my daughter that in the end, almost all choices will be hers to make but I hoped that she would consider what the consequences could be by trying on something that may see exciting at the time but the consequences may not be worth the limited excitement of the moment. Sometimes the consequences result in hurting others emotionally or damaging our bodies or another person's body.

I hope we can "face" the hard choices in our lives looking at the choices clearly and make a choice without "losing our noses" in the process.