Lemonade Stand

Today GK wanted to go for a walk in the pouring rain. She's developed a new habit of barking whenever she wants to go outside and she couldn't be ignored if you tried. Well, I suppose if you Really tried, but who wants to torture their dog that way just because you don't feel like getting a little wet?

Down the street, some kids had set up a Lemonade Stand but it was unmanned due to the rain. I remembered all the excitement I used to have planning my entrepreneurial adventures (and playing the computer game on super old mac computers in my school's computer lab). I thought of how bummed these children must have been by the unexpected shower.

I then thought of times when I've been really excited for something, only to get the "Not right now" message from the Universe. Sometimes I still pout, not unlike a child. I pack up all my stuff, go home and refuse to try again later. The fact that the stand in its entirety was still out on the street made me think, what if instead of a temper tantrum, I just waited out the rain and went right back out when it was over?

Certainly, children can be more resilient than grownups. They have less scar tissue built up. They don't have memories of hundreds of squashed hopes, they just want to play and have fun. If I could just erase my memory, would I too would feel renewed every time I got a second chance instead of hesitant and bitter?

Amnesia isn't the answer, of course. A much less traumatic solution is to live in the present moment, not dwelling on the past. I know this to be true from the countless times I've managed to do so. So, instead of doing what I might have always done before, today's brand new action, focused on the present is to walk my block again and buy some lemonade. A cure for what ails me, only 50 cents. I'd say that's a pretty good deal.