“If nothing else, some people just teach you how not to be.” ~ Unknown
Back in 2019 I posted a different version of this scene; the lone chair at sunset overlooking the boat dock on Grand Lake of the Cherokees in Grove, Oklahoma. I imagined the chair was Gary’s where he would sit to watch the sun go down. Then, when I was processing the rest of the photos, I came across this image that also showed the warm setting sun. I like it much better. Funny how time changes one’s perspective like that. And the quote? I have had plenty of people show me how not to be. I’m glad for them, too. Of course, it didn’t feel like that the time. It never does. Thus is the gift of time. Nevertheless, I learned a lot from such folks, the ability to really see things I thought I wanted until I saw them on someone else and didn’t like what I saw. Such revelation usually meant turning away from money and power, but I was also turning away from ugly behavior and an empty soul, saving me from a life of misery, giving me instead the opportunity to enjoy a chair by the water in the presence of something greater than myself. Poor as a church mouse with no power at all feels like a far more respectable life if it means I’m a better person on this planet. I welcome it like a chair by the lake at sundown.
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