Near the end of high school a friend of mine had a pool party. It was a nice sunny day and I was 16 or 17. It was a perfect recipe for disaster when you consider how little we know at that age. I had great marks in physics, but you wouldn’t think so after what you read next.
I was a kid who liked to have fun joking around, the kind who would hide in the bushes or behind walls and jump out to scare you (that part is still in me). On this occasion I saw balloons lying around that weren’t blown up yet, and had the brilliant idea of using them to make water balloons to throw at people.
This proved to not be so brilliant when they didn’t break; only after it hit the pavement beside the pool did it break, and only if it hit hard enough. This was also the first clue that made what I did really dumb. Only later did I find out that when you want to make water balloons, you need to use special balloons.
One of my best friends, DJ, had his license and his parent’s Hyundai Pony with him, and another friend at the time thought it would be fun to take the car out for a drive around the block (and who wouldn’t in a pony!). I had another ‘brilliant’ idea of waiting for that friend to arrive back at the house, and throw a water balloon at the windshield as he was pulling up. It made a nice splash when hitting hard pavement, why wouldn’t it do the same thing on a car windshield? It gets hit with water all the time in the rain right?
I saw him at the end of the street coming down, and got ready for the throw, imagining how cool it would be when the balloon burst into a shocking splash as he pulled up to the house. As you can imagine, that is not exactly how events played out. Instead of slowing down as he approached the house, he started speeding up with a plan to zoom by us, just as I was letting the balloon fly.
I can be proud of one thing only here; I’m a fairly accurate pitcher in baseball, and I was very accurate here. The balloon hit the windshield, and there was indeed a splash! Unfortunately with that splash of water came a splash of glass, all over my friend that was driving
That mistake cost me. I looked like an idiot (rightfully so) to everyone around me, and to my friends parents who owned the car. I also had to help pay for the replacement of the windshield, which on the allowance that I got for doing chores around the house was a big deal. It was a good lesson though, on the importance of thinking things through before acting.
It is also a good lesson on the importance of acting with the right information. If I knew my friend was going to speed up like that, and if I was aware that water trapped in a balloon is hard and heavy enough to break glass, I never would have thrown the balloon.
This mistake only had price tag of a couple hundred dollars. But what is the price in other life situations where we are not adequately prepared? Investment in knowledge is not expensive; ignorance is.
The knowledge from the LIFE Leadership subscriptions has had such a huge impact in my life; There are so many areas that I have no idea where I’d be today without it. I can however, think of a few areas where I do know.
I would still believe so much in freedom as it has always been a core principle of mine, but the knowledge I had in that area would cause me to promote coercion.
I would be giving people bad advice about finances and making bad choices on my own, because I was ignorant of many of important principles.
I would still be a very shy person, incapable of going out and meeting new people.
I would have no confidence around others, and it would always show. I would never take the initiative or take responsibility for anything, which would make the next thing on this list so much harder if it was still a goal of mine.
I would be spending most of my time at work trying to climb the corporate ladder, when in reality the results at the end of that journey would have left me miserable because all I would have had was a title. The rest of my time would be spent watching TV and playing video games. I would not even realize there was the possibly of something more.
But now, with LIFE, I know better. I read every day and listen to life changing information. I learn success thinking instead of staying with average, mediocre thinking. I’m really thankful to leaders such as Claude Hamilton and Joce Dionne, who help provide great information in this industry and who help people on a personal level. I’m also really thankful to Orrin Woodward for all the work and studying he does to make sure this information is available to us all.
I know my future actions will be based on good thinking and not so much on ignorance. What are your actions going to be based on?
Leadership to Freedom 