Winning At Life
2:02pm
"I swear to you, this is a sure thing All the lads at work have got money on; you'd be stupid if you missed out."
"You know I can't risk it, the wife'd kill me."
"Look, at the end of the day: whose money is it? You work hard for that, you can do what you like with it."
"Well, maybe. Thanks, Barry."
I couldn't risk it, really. I knew that Carol would go crazy if she found out I even considered it. But...
"You know, our daughter was going to be called Mary."
"Well, there you go, then!"
"I don't know."
I still filled in a betting slip. Just to see how it felt-if deep down, I could really bring myself to risk that much.
When you look back at the things that should have been, and can see the point, the exact point, where your course changed from the right path to the wrong, can you retrace your steps?
I knew that day I had to do something to change the direction of my life.
2:32pm
I read both sides of the betting slip again and again. It felt important, crucial somehow, like I'd written a plan on either side. Maybe two parts of the same plan. Two sides of a coin.
The real gamble, though, was—and is—this:
Which has the shortest odds for a better future: Stay or go? Stick or twist?
2:40pm
"Fifty pound, Steve? Is that right?"
"Yeah. That's right."
. . .
"OK, then."
2:45pm
Then I started in a new direction without a real destination.
. . .
I learnt a lot that day. I think I did. Above all, I realised that sometimes you have to make your own path. For better or worse.
(Needs some work)
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