Dear Daughter

Well its that time of year when students must decide which extra class to drop and which one to keep – decisions must be made and regret will likely ensue regarding the road not taken! Sadly, there are not always clear choices in life, often there are equal pros and cons to each choice and not a real clear winner.  But decisions must be made in a timely manner nonetheless and we must live with the consequences of that decision while minimizing any distractions from that little voice in the back of of heads that second guesses our choices!

True story – on your grandfather’s 60th birthday I asked him what valuable lesson had he learned in life? He looked at me blankly and could not say anything. Maybe he was thinking “don’t have kids?” Anyway, after awhile his face lit up, he had it! He told me that every decision you make in life always presents other paths you could have taken. Sometimes the other path is known to you before the decision is made and other times you only realize that there were other options after you’ve made your decision.  Upon discussing this with him in more detail, the message was that you can’t get stuck regretting not taking the other path, you can only move forward and adjust your course as needed. Sometimes an adjustment does mean giving up on the current path when facts stipulate that there is a better way forward. So it’s a little bit of a weird balance, you should examine the decisions you make to determine if there’s a better path forward, but not allow regret to overtake you when you realize you’ve gone down the wrong road.

Dad – heck, just flip a coin and get it over with!

New Word of the Day:  Incongruous (adjective)

1. out of keeping or place; inappropriate; unbecoming:
   an incongruous effect; incongruous behavior.
2. not harmonious in character; inconsonant; lacking harmony of parts:
   an incongruous mixture of architectural styles.
3. inconsistent:
   actions that were incongruous with their professed principles.

Previous Words of the Day:   

Deference  (noun):

1. respectful submission or yielding to the judgment, opinion, will, etc., of another.
2. respectful or courteous regard: “in deference to my dad’s wishes, I did not correct his misspelling.”

Acquiesce  (verb): to assent tacitly; submit or comply silently or without protest; agree; consent: “to acquiesce halfheartedly in a business plan.”