A father and his son, a young adult, were driving to the cottage. The father was worried, because his son had fallen into companionship with people who might lead him astray, and he was trying to help his son see that it was time for him to take his life a little more seriously.
“Aw, dad, I know you mean well, and I know I’m not really doing you proud, but I like to party. I’ll get on the right track some day. I don’t need to worry.”
They drove a little further, when suddenly the son said, “Hey dad, that was the turnoff for the cottage. You missed the turnoff.”
“I know,” said the father. “I think I’ll just keep driving this way for a while. I can always go back later to take the right road.”
A few more minutes – and a couple turnoffs – passed. The son began to think of the swimming he would miss if they arrived too late. “Dad, the farther you go down this road, the longer it will take to get back.”
The father replied, “That’s true. The further you go down the wrong track, the harder it is to get back. So when were you thinking of turning your life around to head down the right track?”
Where do you want to go? What do you want out of life? Most importantly, what are you waiting for?
A lot of parents today might not argue…they’d say, “What road do you want to take today, honey? Whatever makes you feel good.” Good story.
Amazing Story!!! I also keep postponing things thinking I’ll do it later but when I decide to it I realize its too late. Thanks for this! I’ll work on myself.
Nice story. Sometimes it’s really hard to get even back on the road, let alone the right one 🙂
Is it ok to have just one comment regarding this topic? Ive been reading your blog. Keep it up for us to be updated!! Can you post more often?
Nice story friend,appreciated … we just need to think before doing something.rights?
This story was nice. My parents very gentle showed me the way. While I was living it, I was not at all happy, but, now, I’m very grateful and plan on doing the same thing with my son. It may not be cool, but, I think I am a better person for it.
Great story sometimes lessons are best learned and realized in this manner!
thanks for inspiring me..
What a poignant — and cool! — story. It really made me think.
It can make some seemingly hard choices total no-brainers!
Thanks for sharing it!
A very interesting story friend think more parents should be targeted to read this story….Good Job….
Cool story.
I believe that the correct direction in life is the one in which your heart lies.
I have experienced that it is better to realize by yourself that the direction in which you are headed is not the right one,otherwise life reminds you of this by jolting you out of your comfort zone…till you take notice.
I wrote a post about this:
http://www.happinessnlove.com/2009/05/when-life-jolts-you.html
Tell me what you think!!!!
Thank you for the story. Not all people have the same road to happiness, though.
I just wrote a funny article about a group of happy people getting busted by the police on my own blog. Please read and comment! http://www.endsofearth.com/2009/06/radical-fringe-group-protesting-depression-gets-busted/
This is a great story demonstrating that there are certain paths that lead to happiness and the longer you travel in the wrong direction, the longer it takes to get back on the right course.
Here is another article that compares happiness to food. I think you’ll find that a lot of people are simply malnourished when it comes to good forms of happiness.
http://www.politicalpolarization.com/2009/06/vending-happiness/
this is a brilliant story! it is very touching and so deep. the father did well to show to the son of what his life maybe when he takes things for granted because of the chances he thought he has. if there is a chance for us to right what needs to be right then why wait for another chance? what if there will be no second chance?
it is indeed a life-learning story. the father got the wisdom to tell what is right from wrong decision to the son. thank u for this.
it is really very inspiring story. A good message to the young adults who does not take life seriously. Man becomes what he thinks.
Very nice story. The way the father made his son realize what he will be doing wrong if he continues on what he’s doing about his life.
Bottom line here is. “TIME is GOLD”.
be back to read more.
Hi David
What a great analogy! I will keep this up my sleeve and use it when my kids start to head down the wrong track.
Good morning David. From someone who woke up to the right path in his very late forties, I’d like to add a note of sunshine for others like me. If you learn how to discover who you are and what to do with your life….something amazing happens. Looking back at that “wrong way” you took, you’ll see everything behind you was a lesson you had to learn. You’ll realize your former life was a kind of toolbox. Each dead end and mistaken path and painful failure turns out to be a lesson-tool you needed to go like the Dickens the Right Way…. now that you’ve woken up. What you thought was wasted time and aimless wandering, now becomes just what you need for your new-found Aim in life. So it’s not quite as bad as missing a turn-off and having to go way the heck back and start again. It’s much more like realizing there’s a short-cut ahead to where you were always SUPPOSED to go. I know for sure, because it happened to me. Ciao David. John Duffield
I also keep postponing things thinking I’ll do it later but when I decide to it I realize its too late. Thanks for this! This will really help me make a change in my behavior
I think this is a great story. It really makes a great point, and is very true. It is how life goes, if you work hard in the beginning, then you can relax later in life. If you get off track taking the easy way out, then you are forced to work twice as hard in life. Talent or even a famous name doesn’t get anyone to live a successful life, only a goal and hard work to reach that goal will only get someone to where they want to be. Even people with talent work very very hard, such as Tiger Woods is always looking to improve his golf game, or big time business men are always doing research on their next investment. A person cannot put off improving their lives because it not only gets harder when they are older, but they will have less time being successful in their actions. This is something that everyone can learn. We need to change and begin to work harder when we are younger.