The Walt Wilkins I Didn’t Miss
“Never has such a song impacted me as “Trains I Missed” by Walt Wilkins
When you have an opportunity to add moments of joy to your life then do so. Life is too short. One should not fill their present with memories of opportunities missed. When faced with multiple choices, the opportunity costs of each should be weighed. But we are not computers. Logic is not always employed. Emotions and feelings often guide us in our decisions. This is often not an incorrect determinant. Whether the decision is made logically or not the simple fact is that we get it right or we get it wrong. This place, this moment, here we are. I have learned to sum up today as follows:
It’s a big old world but I’ve found my way
And the hell and the hurt lead me straight to it
Here’s to the trains I missed. – Walt Wilkins
The ill-conceived plans; the perfect executions; the right moment; the wrong moment; the circumstances thrust upon me; the circumstances I chose to embrace; the paths I walked; the paths I avoided are in me. They are me. When I was blessed with my first grandson, then a second, I adopted the phrase that if I had to do it all over again I would make every mistake so that I would be at this moment of life. My daughter would have never met her husband if my wife and I had not moved to Utah. The only reason this opportunity occurred was due to a disastrous decision to move prior. To live over again was not a problem.
Only recently did I realize the fallacy of such a statement. Being human, I would attempt to lessen the pain of the past and still attempt to achieve the same outcome. “Trains I Missed” gave me a new outlook. The “bridges I burned, the rivers I never crossed” are part of the tapestry that represents my life. I celebrate them now for they helped me find my way. Heartaches are still felt. Present circumstances are still tough but:
Here’s to this place I’ve found
The love I’ve known
The earth and the sky
That I call home
Here’s to the things I need
Bigger than me
And the moments I find myself right where I’m suppose to be – Walt Wilkins
The Providential hand of God is mysterious and no one will ever fully understand but I can say the following with joy. It is 2023, I photograph musicians.
