The song of hindsight

A song popped on the radio I hadn’t heard in 20 years. Yet, somehow I knew all the words. 

The power of song, is not just the strange catalogue of words and melody, but how it instantly brought my 16 year old self back. Driving in her first car. Blaring her FLY CD. I remember that girl. Her heartbreak. Her fears. Her helpless optimism. 

Oh the things I’d tell her, I thought. I think 16 year old me would’ve been happier knowing that things would work out. 

For me, that moment was a bit more eerie, as these days I drive the same roads I drove at sixteen. I’m back home. I’m raising teenagers now. 

It was dark that night when I was driving home. Lost in nostalgia. The backroad had twists and turns. I knew where I was going because I’ve driven this road thousands of times. In every type of weather. 

But when I was 16? I had no idea what was ahead. 

And that’s when it hit me. The power of hindsight. The necessity of it. 

When the road seems short. When it seems imminent. It’s helpful to have a navigator. Someone that knows it smooths out ahead. 

I want to tell the teenagers reading this, that it does get better. To find a grownup and glean from their hindsight. 

But I don’t think it’s just teenagers. I think it’s all of us. Whatever part of the road we are on. There are people ahead of us, around us, that can say “I’ve been there. You’ll be okay. Just keep driving.” 

I also think, we need to remember that we are navigators. For someone. And our hindsight can be just the thing they need to keep moving forward. 

Keep Driving. And Jamming your favorite tunes,

Play you,

XO, Coach D