The Magic of a "Do Over"

I remember when I was a kid running around with neighborhood friends in Berkley, Michigan. We played several different games, ranging from a ball game involving a kickball and the side of a garage, to a massive game of make-believe where we were all Super Friend heroes or villains. I always was Catwoman (Julie Newmar was the best!)...though there was this one day when I questioned that wisdom as 'the Penguin' and I prepared to run--and were chased by all of the Super Friends!

There was this magical phrase that I remember. The Do Over. When the ball would hit a gutter or I would trip on my untied shoelace... I could stand up and holler 'do over!' and everything would reset to just before my goof. Ah...the magic of childhood days...

I was thinking of the 'do over' this morning at work. I was fairly miserable thinking about my previous day. Oh, work had gone well enough. I'd gotten home, did the usual after work routine of dishes and laundry, even picked up the house a bit. Then I did the unthinkable. I sat down in my favorite chair, and put my feet on the ottoman, and then picked up the new book I'd just gotten from the library. The Aloha Quilter (part of the Elm Creek quilters series). A comfy chair + purring cat in my lap + new unread book in a series I enjoy=total loss of time.

I sat there for the rest of the evening, lost in the tale, oblivious to the passing of time, until I got a call from one of my 'daughters' (I call my sons' significant others my daughters), asking for directions to the church picnic. I had missed the parade. I had missed the chance to sit with my friends from FMC and watch the parade. I had missed out on seeing my son and 'daughter' walking with their Karate school. I missed out on all the fun I had looked forward to all day. By the time I climbed out of that book, it was far too late to even head to the picnic. Worse, I had told my friends, my son, and my 'daughter' that I would be there....and I wasn't.

I realized that my morning was going badly today, because of my sincere regrets of the day before.... and since the age of 'do overs' was long gone, all I could do was to try to live my day better than I had yesterday.

And I wrote this....