Good morning. ☁️⛅🌨️

14 September 2025

It’s another late start today. Maybe I need to surrender earlier to sleep. Last night I was near the end of a book and decided to ride it out to the finish, which kept me up until almost midnight. I know—midnight doesn’t sound late for a Saturday—but those late-night shenanigans are behind me. I used to chase the sunrise from the wrong direction. Now I just miss it because I’m reading too long.

There was a time I’d stay up and out until the wee hours, collecting memories that don’t exactly make the highlight reel. Still, it’s our past that shapes the scaffolding of our future.

Hmm… that thought veered somewhere unexpected. I thought I was heading toward something about walking in the cool morning air—while it still was.

We all carry a few regrets from our younger days, those moments when hindsight reveals that our judgment wasn’t exactly sterling. But those missteps helped shape who we are now—for better or worse. Ideally, we learn by observing others’ mistakes, or by listening closely to the wisdom handed down. But when that doesn’t happen, we learn the hard way. Regret becomes the forge, and we emerge better equipped for what’s ahead. We are who we are now—not who we were. We grow. Hopefully.

When you’re young and inexperienced, it’s hard to see how each decision opens or closes doors. The consequences feel distant, abstract. But they’re real. They accumulate. And eventually, they shape the map you walk.

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” — Confucius

“We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it.” — Rick Warren

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