Skip to main content

"should have"

"Should have........", is a common phrase heard especially during times when something has gone wrong. I find it irritating when people say that to me because I think it doesn't help the situation but rather makes the situation worse.

Christmas this year, a friend and I went on a 700km road trip up to a neighbouring state. The road trip was fun and enjoyable except for the part my car got hit by another car. In terms of damage, it was bad enough to leave a hole in my car, which now requires some welding and body work to restore it. Freak accidents can happen any where and at any time with virtually anyone. More often than not, accidents are due to human negligence.

Those who know me will know my car is kept in pristine condition and that I really love my car. Especially given the fact that my car is 21 years old, going 22 years old in the next couple of days.

By the time I got home, my mom flipped when she saw the damaged. It was even more painful for me to see my car in such a state. So the next best thing to do was to quickly send the car in for repair work. The mechanic takes a look at the damage and says, "It's going to take a about 3 to 4 days to fix up. You should have been more careful".

I felt a bit disturbed with the "you should have been more careful" bit of what he said. The thought in my mind at that point in time was, "Had I knew he was going hit my car, I would not have even driven on the road I got hit to begin with and I wouldn't need to send my car to you would I?". Not to mention he was going to be getting money from me for the repair work.

I wasn't upset with him for saying that but I just felt that saying such things really wasn't helping the situation. My mechanic was clearly looking in hindsight. It sure is easy to state the obvious after something has happened. It's like being told fire burns only after you get burnt by it. That's a lot help!

Many of us fail to understand that it is always easy to look in hindsight because more often than not, we would be merely stating the obvious. Most importantly, it makes no difference and it doesn't change the outcome that has already happened. Rather, we should let what has happened be and learn from what has happened to not repeat it in the future........

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

hiatus!

After having been online on the ~Path of Time~ since 2006..... it is going to be hard, painful and sad. As of today, I will officially stop writing on the ~Path of Time~. For those who have continued to read my posts, I thank you very much for taking timeout to read my posts. I am not sure if all my writings were great but I'll be happy to know even if it was only one post that reached your heart. I may one day pick up from where I left off here but only time will tell. Who knows I might even start afresh? Until next time.......... time stops ticking for the ~Path of Time~

one foot in the past, another in the future........ what about the present?

All of us go through a cycle, what we commonly call - the past, present and the future. It can probably be summed up by this simple phrase: " we come from the past to be in the present and look forward to the future ". Now, what I want you to do is take a step back, or just give your mind a minute or two to digest the above mentioned phrase. Ask yourself if it applies to you. Really ask yourself; and I mean REALLY ask yourself in the most honest of manner, whether it really applies to you. You may find it difficult to arrive at a 'yes' and even if you do, you probably find yourself in a paralysis state of mind trying to justify the 'yes'. If you really ponder about it, you are likely to find that most of us would find this phrase more relevant instead: " we come from the past and look forward to the future " You will find many of us either hang on to the past or look far too forward into the future, or likely for some to even be dwelling too much in ...

Entrepreneurship....

Every now and then, some people make it big time in the business world either from, pioneering a fresh new business strategy to improving something that is thought to be already at it's best. Entrepreneurs can be found in virtually any part of this world. I guess, when you think about an entrepreneur in a global perspective, the first few people you might think of would be - William H. Gates who founded Microsoft, Steve Jobs who brought to us the iPod or even Warren Buffet arguably the best investor in THE world. Bring it down to a narrower perspective, the local scene - Tony Fernandes co-founder of AirAsia and Teh Hong Piow founder of Public Bank Berhad (equivalent to a PLC), and of course there are many more! I guess, there are times when we sit down and ponder, "how exactly did these people turn out to be who they are?". Were they born with such innate ability? Did they have parents that constantly gave them inspiration to be their own boss? Did they have a natural eye...