Don't Get Stung...Twice

About two weeks ago I was out taking a hike with a friend of mine, and we decided to take my roommates dog, Moose. 

As we were hiking along, we were just chatting away and Moose was skipping up ahead - dodging in and out of bushes, around trees, and loving every minute of NOT being the house. 

However, his bounding soon got all of us into trouble - he stumbled upon a hive of angry Yellow Jackets. Well, they weren't really angry until after he jumped on their home, but anyway...

We were soon covered from head to toe in swarms of Yellow Jackets and running like mad in the other direction! 

We didn't fair too badly - only a sting or two each, but we certainly remembered the pain! We both said, "Next time, we're not taking Moose on this trail!" And my friend kept asking me throughout the rest of the hike, "Are there going to be anymore Yellow Jackets?" 

Well, today, I was taking Moose for another hike, and about halfway through it, I remembered our Yellow Jacket incident - ironically, I remembered after I found one buzzing around on the trail. (Thank goodness I was able to get past it without getting stung again!) 

I could not believe that I had forgotten the last time! Especially after swearing up and down that I would be more cautious next time! 

I had to laugh at myself. 

Because how often do I do this in real life? 

How often do I do something once, get stung hard core, and swear up and down that I will NOT repeat the experience. 

I will not hurt myself like that again.

I will not repeat that mistake.

I will not.......(insert stupid memory here)

How come even when something hurts you so badly, you still find yourself involved in it again? 

It seems that when the sting goes away, when the wound is healed, we forget the pain. We forget how we got into that mess in the first place.

All we remember is the lovely hike we had surrounding the yellow jacket hive. 

And before you know it, you're back on the same trail.....

It's always easier to remember the good in something.

The physical pleasure in an unhealthy relationship....

The happiness of owning a new toy..until you go into debt....

Whatever your hive may be, don't forget it. Try to keep in mind the consequence that followed the action. 

We can't harbor guilt and pain, but if we are naive and quickly forget what happened, we will find ourselves right back at square one, asking ourselves the same question: 

"What was I thinking?"