Have you ever done something that seemed like a good idea at the time?

Have you ever done something that seemed like a good idea at the time?  Then you get far enough into it that you realize, "Hey.  Maybe this wasn't such a good idea?"  Let me give you a few examples of what I am talking about:

• "Let's pull an all-nighter".  In what world is this fun?  I have stayed up all night with friends and it is a great time until about 2:00am then it tends to unravel.  That does not even take into consideration the total waste of the next day.  It never fails on family outings, scout camps, or any other youth gathering someone will recommend it and someone else will try to join in.  Ya good luck with that.

• Lets do a  25 day blog challenge.  It was fun for about 4 days after that it was like someone was scratching fingernails on the chalkboard of my soul.  Not a squeak with a piece of chalk but a long, slow scratch that never seemed to end.  The one we just completed was especially bad because it required a YouTube video everyday.  Not a lot of room to comment on something like that.

• You should go on a 50 mile hike.  I love scouting.  I love camping.   But the whole 50 mile hike thing I have never been able to wrap my head around.  Why would you walk 50 miles for the purpose of walking?  I have been a scout leader going on 12 years and have never done one of these.  I have gone 50 miles by canoe, raft, bike, car, and sailboat, but never on foot.  I will be doing my first this summer because someone in the troop wants to.  What exactly was I thinking when I agreed to this?

•  Let's put tile in the bathroom and we can do it ourselves.  Well lucky for me I no longer own that house.  Tile is a lot harder than it looks to lay down.  The bathroom looked good when we were done except for that one loose tile in the middle of the floor that everyone steps on.  I realized I was in over my head about the time I tore the vinyl floor out and was committed to put something new down.

• Lets make napalm.  What could go wrong there?  Without going into too many details it did actually work and it was completely awesome and I will never give out the recipe and I realize I used "and" 4 times in this sentence.  However, when we lit it off we didn't consider the size of the fireball, the black smoke, or the secondary fire.  All in all we are lucky no one died or was hurt.  But the incoming tide washed away all of the evidence by morning. 

• Posting online that you have made napalm.  Who will find out?  Not my kids because they never read my blog.  However some of their friend's parents do so I am sure someone will sell me out.  Just for the record I was 23 when I did it so it was safe and I was a responsible adult.

• Eating Balut.  Lets take a fertilized duck egg, incubate it for 13-19 days, boil it then eat it.  Who comes up with this stuff?  And who in the heck thought it was a good idea to eat it?  The first time I puked.  After that it got easier.  In fact I got to where I actually enjoyed them.  It has been a solid 20 years since I have tried and I don't see myself going back after all of these years.

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•  Blue eye shadow and big hair.  You know who you are and you know what you have done.  Don't make me breakout the 1980's yearbooks.  Luckily I have never fallen into this category.  

Everyone has regrets over doing some not-so-smart things in their life.  I would much prefer to have a regret of doing something that did not work out verses staying locked in my house with the shades drawn all the time living in fear of what could go wrong.    If you never go out and try the 50 mile hike you will never know what you have been missing (or haven't as the case may be).  I have eaten all the parts of the animal you are supposed to throw away.  After eating them it would be OK for you to take my word it is better to throw them away.  Not every part of a chicken tastes good.