When NO is the answer.

Today was one of those.  By being honest and respectful I got a bad end of the stick. What I know is that I could have done what I wanted to do without seeking authority. I could have gone the said distance and came back without anyone (except God of course) knowing. I could have abused the advantage of rank and obviously gotten away with it.

But my conscience got the better of me. What if I had an accident hundreds of miles away from base? What if an emergency occurred at the base? How would I start explaining the inconsistencies and omissions?

Resultantly I picked up the phone, called the powers that be and sought permission, telling the truth and indicating that I will fund all the expenses from my pocket and what do I get? A straight non-debatable NO. All I had to do is say ‘Yes Sir’ and ‘Thank you Sir’.

Upon terminating the call I was tempted to call again and protest. I was tempted to tell of all those that have not called in their intents and have driven to Heaven and back. I opted to breathe in and out instead!! After the storm I then was able to recall my late father’s advice – ‘In life my son, you must always have an option-‘’. That sent me smiling for I realized that I still can travel and be back within my means with no stress but if that rebuttal had not come I would not have stretched my planning capacities to that extent.

Eventually, without lying, without falsification I am able to still pursue the retreat camp and I go with a clean conscience and a wide smile like the cat that got the milk.

In all this I learnt that things will not always go the way I want but there that is no reason to sulk and be a sellout. Instead, in the cinch of the pinch one should seek to find the gap that paves way to a lee way. I learnt that dwelling on emotions and playing the blame card wastes my time and deters progress and I am not game to such anymore.

In a way I am glad things turned out this way. I stretched my mind to the limit. I moved from the comfort zone , I realized assumptions do not always turn real but topmost I re- affirmed that in life , one must always have an option  and failure to do so will result in emotional , amateurish tantrums that devalue one’ s acumen.

As the sun rises tomorrow I will accept all the obstacles and stand on tip toe to see beyond them.