This is Blossom – the younger of the two canines with whom I share my home.
At the point this image was captured, she’d eaten half of a red glitter glue stick.
Not one of her best choices.
She’s OK. I think most of the red glitter glue has made its way out of her system. No need to ask how I know.
We’ve all done it haven’t we? Maybe not by eating red glitter glue – however, we’ve all made choices that prompted us to say afterward, “If I’d only known…”.
A few years ago I made a conscious choice to let go of the HUGE crate of regrets I was carrying around. They were many and I was getting more than weary from their weight. In the process of letting them go, I looked at each one and figured out the good thing I’d gotten from each of those ” If only I’d known…” experiences.
For example, when I was in the sixth grade and was standing in line to have my school picture made, I snuck into the girls’ bathroom to put on some mascara. Not so bad, eh? Well, this was when Twiggy was big. I wanted to BE her. So I took the mascara wand and drug it vertically above and below my eyes. Get the picture? Think Tammy Faye (God rest her soul) meets Alice Cooper .
NOT one of my best choices. Ugh. To this day, when I’m tempted to put on one more layer of any kind of make-up, I stop. I just walk away. This choice DID help me make an important life choice – less really IS more – on SO many levels.
One more (that I’m willing to share in blogland) is that when I was 16, I bought my first car (from my parents) for $400 – an ’72 avocado green Pinto (Nope, I’m not going to post a pic here. If you can remember this model – do. If you can’t, I don’t want to be the person to put that image in your head.) The FIRST thing I did – once it was mine – was to cover the dashboard and seats with burnt orange/harvest gold/with just that perfect touch of – you guessed it, avocado green floral contact paper. Don’t ask me why. I don’t even know why. Again, UGH. The life lesson I got from this one was that trying to change something (or someone) to make it feel more like ‘mine’ doesn’t work – for anyone. Whew. If I’d only known…
What have your “If only I’d known…” experiences taught you?
Lisa’s Cheap Therapy blog 
red glitter glue!! you go girl!!! all i’m willing to add to your list of “if only i’d known” is that all my mistakes are new ones – making my way thru all god’s possiblities … trying to steal the General’s flag pole holder from the O’Club at Ft. Benning might be one of the “shoulda known better” moments – great memory
LOVE it, Carol!!! do ya have pictures? 🙂
Great blog post, Lisa. I guess we’ll all had “Why did I do that??” kinds of moments. The one that comes to mind for me is when I decided to eat a 1.5 pound cheeseburger (along with fries and onion rings) at a restaurant in Auburn, AL a few years ago. Slept on my back for days. But at least they took a picture of me and put it on the wall. Didn’t do my stomach much good. Probably felt a lot like Blossom did this afternoon.
I think I may have ridden in that car once or twice….and hey if it’s any consolation…I thought it was stunning! *soft smile*
Tom, hmmmmmmmmmm could be that hamburger/fries/onion rings did you more harm than the glitter glue did to Blossom i’m just sayin’…
Theresa, ooooooooo you sure DID ride in that car – and you’re WAY too kind – ha!
aww I am glad Blossom’s ok !
and ha an avocado green pinto? =)
hmmmm…….. one thing if I had known….
I would have gone to the Foo Fighters concert in Chicago at The Metro in 2002 ! It was like 12 bucks or something and I didn’t go !!!!
Oh well, and yes lately, I’ve discovered less is more !
I can’t even tell you how many “if only I’d known…” experiences I’ve had but I can say that every single one has taught me something. Sometimes it’s hard to remember this in the heat of the moment, but it’s so important to focus on the positive things you can take away from every experience!
Rocky, so sad you missed the Foos. funny how big $12 can seem, eh? thanks for the + vibes for Blossom!
PP, i knew i could count on you for that ever+ slant 🙂
THANKS, ya’ll!
Well, I’m thinking of my first perm and my first husband, but then I just have to remember that everything happens for a reason, and there’s always a lesson to be learned!
ML, you are PRICELESS and so wise. thanks.