Just One Second Too Long!

This post was inspired by a tragedy some good friends went through recently. They discovered their 19 year old son dead, having killed himself. It wasn’t a suicide. He choked himself to death, the “choking game”, a practice among kids his age. A high from passing out and coming back.

My wife and I were discussing the whole thing and trying to figure out how to talk to our 20 something children about it. It’s not like they don’t do stupid things and for sure it’s not like I haven’t done my fair share of stupid things, but we decided, it’s just a case of doing something stupid for just one second too long.

Having been in the life insurance business forever I know without any doubt that doing stupid things isn’t reserved for those who are teens or young adults. And, as with the choking game, it may not be a matter of doing something stupid for one second too long. For many of us adults it’s even more egregious. We do stupid things for years on end and we know the consequences and keep right on going.

Really! Let’s show young people just how sharp we are. I wish there was a way to actually count this and show how many men ignore getting their PSA checked or ignoring the prudent advice to get a colonoscopy when we turn 50. How often we will ignore health problems, knowing we should get it checked out but not wanting to spend the money and have it turn out to be nothing. And women who don’t get annual checkups. It’s like the choking game for older people. Instead of putting all of our chips on the fact that we will start breathing again, we just bet on not getting breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer or cervical cancer.

Bottom line. It seems we would all be a lot better off if we would just collectively quit doing stupid things. Death by choking or death by cancer are both tragic and bring families to their knees. Just one second too long!