Everything Comes With a Price.

Lets Party.

The number of time friends have said to me that had it not been for something they had foolishly done in their youth life would be much easier now. Oh how true that is. I have a new ankle caused because of all the running injuries that went untreated because I just wanted to keep on running. Having a very high pain threshold has allowed me to run when others would have gone and seen about the pain. But I was well warned and did not pay heed so I am paying the price now.

So when I say everything comes with a price I am not saying it in a mercenary way but just as a little act of warning. nature and life has a way of biting back. 

Now that being said, the question remains, "Would I have done it differently?" I doubt it very much. But i just might have been a bit more humble and listened to the wise words of my friends. 

Now that the snow lies thick on my head and the shaved face never feels nearly as smooth as it did at one time, I am a bit more aware of the folly of youth.  Sad that it has taken so long to learn it.

In all of those thoughts I am aware of one thing, friendship is worth every penny and every sacrifice it asks of you. There is nothing more important in life than those people who in spite of offering you wisdom that was ignored still stand beside you. They are still friends in spite of you. 

This is something to be cherished and nurtured. How grateful I am for the friends I have in spite of me. 

Getting back to the theme of today, "Everything comes with a price." Let me leave you with a humorous thought.

A woman took a very limp duck into a veterinary surgeon. As she laid her pet on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the bird's chest.

After a moment or two, the vet shook his head and sadly said, "I'm sorry, your duck, Cuddles, has passed away."

The distressed woman wailed, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure. Your duck is dead," replied the vet..

"How can you be so sure?" she protested. "I mean you haven't done any testing on him or anything. He might just be in a coma or something."

The vet rolled his eyes, turned around and left the room. He returned a few minutes later with a black Labrador Retriever. As the duck's owner looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the examination table and sniffed the duck from top to bottom. He then looked up at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head.

The vet patted the dog on the head and took it out of the room. A few minutes later he returned with a cat. The cat jumped on the table and also delicately sniffed the bird from head to foot. The cat sat back on its haunches, shook its head, meowed softly and strolled out of the room.

The vet looked at the woman and said, "I'm sorry, but as I said, this is most definitely, 100% certifiably, a dead duck."

The vet turned to his computer terminal, hit a few keys and produced a bill, which he handed to the woman.

The duck's owner, still in shock, took the bill. "£150," she cried, "£150 just to tell me my duck is dead!"

The vet shrugged, "I'm sorry. If you had just taken my word for it, the bill would have been £20, but with the Lab Report and the Cat Scan, it's now £150.

It often pays to trust the words of a friend and it is certainly always a good thing to listen to the wisdom of others before bashing on doing your own thing. 

Thanks again to all those who call me friend and all those who know I count as friends.