If you could do it all over again...

"You only get one chance in life." -- For the most part this old saying is true.  I mean yeah you learn from your mistakes and you can do things better the next time around or when the same opportunity presents itself.  The journey is filled with these redemption moments.  You've seen it in movies, read it in books, and maybe even witnessed it in real life. And lets be honest, a man cant truly say he's lived unless he's overcome his mistakes.  Life is not without human error.  Introduce me to someone who has never been tested or says I have never made a mistake and I'll... well for one I'd say "wow, whats your name again?" then I'd probably laugh because it'd be hard for me to take this person seriously.

Anyways, sorry to go off on a tangent.  Mistakes and redemption are not what this post is about.  I simply want to tell you what I would do if I could start over from day one.  Of course I'll preface like I always do.  See, when you're a kid its easy to pick up things.  Its easy to learn.  When you're that age, and I'm sure most of you know, your brain is like a sponge.  It soaks up and absorbs everything you put into it.  You want to know the mechanics of shooting a basketball? Easier to correct your form when a kid then to start now when your elbow out to the side and you have a low release. You want to learn to strum a couple scales on a guitar? Try it now when your fingers are already used to your daily movements of typing 80 -100 words a minute.  I'm not saying its impossible its just a whole heck of a lot easier when you were younger.

Now, there's one obstacle you face when you're young.  You, dont have and most of the time, are not exposed to a lot of different things that you might not know you like.  Confused yet? Let me give you an example.  I grew up in Dallas right? What's there in Dallas as far as music goes? Country, country, and country.  Did I like it? Yeah I guess I thought I did.  I was known to buy a couple country CD's and I'm not going to lie, I found myself watching CMT to hear the latest top 10 songs of the week (this was before iTunes, unfortunately). So I went to school up north and obviously met a lot of people from the north.  I remember hanging with some friends once in the dorms and I put on one of my CD's from back home.  To my surprise, to them it was like fingernails on a chalkboard.  I got a bunch of laughs and finally someone said to change it (not so politely).  What I heard next changed my perspective on everything I thought I liked when it came to music.  My friend put on a couple of jam bands CD's we drank some, played cards, and the next thing you know I'm asking him "yo whats this called" or "who sings this".  Just opened up my realm really, to other things, different types of songs, styles, etc.  Everything changed.

I'm pretty passionate about music.  I have a collection of about 12 thousand songs on my computer. And I know what good music sounds like.  I did play the saxophone for 8 years straight so I do know a thing or two as well.

So back to the title of my post.  If I could do it all over again I would pick up a guitar and let that childish enthusiasm soak up everything I know NOW about music.  Not to mention it would be so fun to be a rock star.  Traveling the world, surrounded by great artists, speaking the language of sound.  Not to mention all the other perks a rock star is entitled to (I'm not going to spell this out, use your imagination :). Ahhhh the life I life I was meant to have! haha! 

Back to reality: meeting in 15 minutes in the conference room with a small client to go over database contract and 1 year terms.  But in my head, I'm in Ibiza doing a sound check on stage with thousands of screaming fans, about to rip a serious chord on my 6 string electric Gibson Les Paul....  Okay really, back to reality....