On a whim…

None who know me will be surprised when I admit I have done many foolish things. Once I rode a bicycle across a high exposed ridge in driving rain, deafened by thunder and hounded by lightening with a lust for more than bare rock and scattered trees.

The occasion for today’s commentary was my advice to a bride not to be nervous. Perhaps not the most foolish thing I have done but certainly one of the least effective. On that occasion, during the course of some correspondence, the bride observed that she simply could not stop being nervous even though I had suggested she do so. I might as well have attempted to command the tide stop, the moon rise, or my wife to do my bidding; each are utterly impossible.

In retrospect I realize how silly it is to tell anyone who is nervous not to be. It is, I think, like telling water not to be wet. This is especially true for people caught up in major life events like weddings, funerals, and high school reunions.