Life is a parade. You can either be a part of the parade or it passes you by. To lead the parade even if it is just once is what life is about. I have had the opportunity to be at the front of the parade, riding with Kathryn Peters in the front seat of The Houston Fire Museum’s 1937 Fire Chevrolet Truck with the wind blowing my hair and the police in front leading the way.
There is a difference when you lead the parade. You see everything in front of you but you don’t see the acts in back of you. Life is something like this. You have to look ahead and see where you are going. But you don’t look back to the past. You put a smile on your face and wave to the people. Each day when you get up in the morning you are leading your parade. Put a smile on your face and go forward embracing the opportunity ahead of you.
The leader of the parade always finishes first. The only thing that can happen to you is that you break down along the parade route. With our Fire Truck we are always followed by a newer Fire Truck which has a tow rope, so that if we break down they will be there to assist us. Life is like this in that you have God, family, and your friends to help you when you fall.
You cannot enjoy the parade thinking about what happens if the truck breads down. In the Rodeo parade our truck broke down 4 times before the Parade even started. Officials asked us to move aside if we had not fixed our problem. We changed the truck idle to about 4 times faster than necessary because the engine died every time we stopped. Then we sat back and enjoyed the parade. We did not worry that the truck might not make it or that we were out front and everyone would be making fun of the old truck which broke down. We did not slump back in the seat and hope for the best. We put a smile on our faces and went confidently about our business, the same thing you have to do every day of your life.
Don’t let the parade pass you by. No matter what your problems are there is someone with a whole lot worse problem. Smile and wave to the people as you move on with your life.