By Kay Peterson
[Ed Note: Kay and Joe Peterson are the founders of the Escapees RV Club. This editorial was published in the March/April edition of the Escapees Magazine, is subject to the copyright of the Escapees RV Club, and is reprinted here with the permission of Kay and the Club. We have had the pleasure of knowing Joe and Kay for the past several years, and we have found Kay's editiorial pieces to be outstanding. Happily a collection of her editorials have now been published in book form, available through the Escapees website (www.escapees.com). We thought the message of the "If only..." editorial was quite special, and wanted to share it with our readers. Thanks to Kay and the Escapees RV Club for letting us bring this message to a new audience.]
Once upon a time, a young man fell in love with a beautiful princess. The king said, "Before I consent to this marriage, you must demonstrate your courage by going to the faraway land of Opportunity, entering the forbidden cave and bringing back the diamond that is guarded by a fierce dragon."
When he reached the forbidden cave, he entered boldly, eager to slay the dragon, seize the diamond and win the princess.
The cave was lit only by the dim light from the entrance and a ray of sunlight, squeezing through a crack in the cave roof, that shone like a beacon on a large sparkling diamond wedged between the dragon's paws. The longer he stared at it, the larger the diamond seemed to be.
Then his eyes moved to the dragon. Only then did he realize how huge and fierce the dragon was. His heart pounded so loudly that he was sure the dragon could hear it. He was overcome with a greater fear than he had ever known. Sobbing like a child, he ran from the cave with his own terror chasing him.
He was too ashamed to return to his own land where he and his friends had boasted to each other of their bravery. It would be too humiliating.
Everyone would know he had failed. The princess, like the diamond, was a treasure he could never claim.
He never knew that the princess had also fallen in love with him and would have married him even without her father's consent, if only he had asked her.
After a long time of searching through many lands, he found a place so forbidding that no one he knew would ever go there. Here he could hide with his failure.
Eventually, he married and, although he was not in love, he remained faithful. But there was no joy in the marriage. His mind constantly compared her to the princess. How different his life would be if only he had married the princess?
Throughout the years he thought about the diamond that would have brought him great wealth. How wonderful his life would be, if only he had that diamond?
Although he worked very hard, there was never enough money. This harsh, unyielding land he had chosen barely allowed him to survive. He thought about the lush green fields of his homeland and how much easier life was there. If only he had gone back...
When his only daughter died because they could not afford the medicine she needed, he berated himself. If he had that diamond, she would still be alive. If only he had been brave...
The years passed. His sons left home to conquer their own dragons and find princesses to marry. Some years later, his wife died. Now, awake or sleeping, he dreamed of the life he could have had if only he had slain the dragon?
When he was an old man with nothing left to lose, he returned to the cave to confront the dragon that had absorbed his life. The dragon sat in the same position with the diamond between its paws, but the dragon was not as huge as he had remembered.
Encouraged by this discovery, he boldly moved closer. As he did, the truth became a knife slashing into his heart. The dragon wasn't real! It was a statue.
Angrily he rushed forward and snatched up the precious diamond. In his hand, the diamond was so much smaller than he thought it would be. Stumbling to the cave entrance, his head echoed with the sound of a dragon laughing.
Outside in the sunlight, the knife of truth ripped through his heart again. It was not a real diamond! It was a hunk of glass that sparkled in the sunlight. As the pain in his chest engulfed him, he fell to the ground, still clutching the fake diamond. His final thought was, "If only I had known"...
It is sad when a life is spent living with regret for what might have been. It is tragic when we allow the past to rob us of enjoyment for the life we have.
Some things never change. Young boys will always dream of slaying the dragon and winning the princess. Young girls will dream of being that princess.
Life without problems exists only in childhood dreams. In the real world, we have to face our own private dragon that sometimes seems so huge that we want to run away and hide.
I suppose that all of us, at sometime or another, have dreamed of what it would be like to snatch the treasure -- grab the diamond -- win the lottery. Yet money itself does not bring happiness. If it did, why do so many millionaires and Hollywood stars have to take drugs to enable them to cope with day-to-day life?
Happy, successful lives are the reward for confronting and conquering those dragons called Fear. There are so many bearing that name!
Fear of the unknown and fear of running out of money keep some tied to a traditional lifestyle even when their hearts are on the road. Fear of failure and fear of rejection keep some from meeting new people and new challenges. Fear of cancer keeps one person running to the doctor and another refusing diagnostic tests. There are countless more, including the fear of death.
Looking closer, we see this dragon called Fear is not as menacing as we thought. Very likely it dwells only in our mind. Very seldom is it real.
The diamonds of life are there for the taking, if only we have the courage to reach for them.
Ah, yes, IF ONLY...