As I was driving by the freshly run over animal, I had the following thoughts…
- This probably wasn’t the first time that animal played in the street.
- Whatever it was after couldn’t have been worth getting smashed by a car.
- All animals die, but this one mistake is now viewed by thousands of people.
- It’s going to take a while to clean the mess left by that bloody carcass.
I’ve never thought of this before that moment, but there are a lot of similarities between road kill and the mistakes we make. Like the foolish animal we…
- Make the same mistakes more than once. We think we get away with it, but eventually the truth will come out. When it does the damage will be messy.
- Bad choices are never worth the consequences. In the moment my brain will justify my negligent behavior. It focuses on what I want while blinding me to the dangers of what I’m going after.
- From time to time we all make stupid choices. The truth is if we don’t change our behavior we will get caught one day. When we do all will see the stupid choice. Whether it’s Tiger Woods, Jesse James, or you…we can’t hide foolish behavior forever. We may get away with it for years, but eventually it will come out. When it does it will be a spectacle for all to see.
- When we do get caught it will take a while to clean up our mess. If we change our behavior eventually people will forget the foolish decision that we made. I mean nobody talks about Kobe Bryant’s scandal in Colorado anymore. But it takes years of changed behavior to undo one foolish choice.
Preach it man! A vivid picture of guts and mess, but entirely relevant and accurate.
And the mistakes made by us have wide reaching impacts on others. Just as the roadkill was part of some family. A son, daughter, dad, mom, brother, sister, coulda have even been the grandpoobah at the lodge with lots of tiny followers. Point is his/her fall or crossing could affect and effect many others.
Now another point is this road was not always there and maybe he/she and his/her family had been crossing there safely back when the indians ran this area. Bad timing is another cause of mistakes. I am reminded of this everytime I take my boys to the store …they know to look both ways and usually they are safe to cross but occasionally they don't see the car turning on to the crossing OR they misjudge the distance. I stop them with my voice my hand and then a warning about next time. They have also scared the driver of that car when they run and stop suddenly and the driver was looking at a sign near the door or whatever.
Anyway great observation today …thanks for your insight 🙂
good stuff, rob. you would think natural selection and evolution would kick in for the animals eventually…
for us, however, there is no excuse except that the devil works in very alluring ways. here's hoping to not be satan's roadkill!
great metaphor…when i worked eitht eh sheriffs dept, without fail when pulling over a speeder they would pull over next to a stinking roadkill…
excellent comparisons… how true it is
Lindsey, very true.