April 8, 2026
We’ve all heard the words, “You need to stop and smell the roses.” Which actually means we need to take the time to enjoy the moment. We need to be mentally present. Some of the best times in our lives are not always moments of fireworks going off.
Sometimes it’s those less important events that we get just as much joy out of. Today, I’ll go over a few events in my life that I truly cherish, along with some I regret.
Looking back, there was one moment of regret which occurred during my Little League days. Even though I played all sports, I was also a dedicated Boy Scout. Being a scout during the 1970’s was very common for a young boy.
But the one regret I have is the fact that I was one project away from becoming an Eagle Scout and never completed it. This is the highest achievement a scout can earn. It means a lot to become an Eagle Scout and looks good on a job resume. It gets the attention of an employer looking to hire you as it shows your ability to commit to a task and follow through.
I’ll admit that my baseball career, which was more important to me at that time, got in the way of my accomplishing the goal of receiving an Eagle Scout badge.
One event that’s given me a lifetime of both pride and joy was being a member of the 1978 Class 3A State Baseball Championship team. I think anytime you can share the experience of winning a state title, especially with your closest friends, it just means more.
I can remember our head coach giving us a post-game speech after winning the state title. He said that this victory would mean more to us later in life than it did that day. How right he was!
That Texas state title whet my appetite for wanting another one the next year. But nothing is harder than defending a state championship and regretfully we came up one game short of a repeated trip to the state tournament.
Another joy also comes with some regret. The day I got drafted by the Montreal Expos in 1983 brought so much joy. But after two seasons of playing in their minor league system, it was very apparent I had zero chance to make it to the major league level with the Expos.
Montreal at the time had three MLB All-Stars playing in their outfield with Tim Rains, Andre Dawson and Warren Cromartie which may have been the best outfield in Major League Baseball at that time. There was no room to move up in the organization unless one of these three got hurt or traded. But my regret after leaving the Expos, was turning down a double A contract from the San Francisco Giants extending my baseball career.
While sports have been a huge part of my life, nothing has given me as much joy as bass fishing. As a kid growing up on a ranch, there was no shortage of stock ponds to fish. I basically learned on my own, along with reading Bassmaster Magazine, on how to catch bass.
I have spent hundreds of days fishing the banks of 5 different stock ponds loaded with good bass. I was always so proud to bring a stringer full of bass back home for a good fish fry.
Tournament bass fishing has given me much joy over the past 36 years especially with all the friends I have met and shared so many good times with while fishing tournament trails over a span of 36 years and fishing some of the best lakes in the country.
Another joy in my life has been the creation of the Hook’N Up & Track’N Down Show. This was a brainstorm of mine back in 2007 that I felt was much needed. Nineteen years later, the show is still going strong! Each week for 52 weeks out of the year I get to sit and talk about issues related to God’s great outdoors. But it’s my relationship with my two other co-hosts, Gary McCoy and Mike Echols, that makes doing the program so enjoyable.
But my greatest joy came the day I signed a scholarship to continue my athletic career/education to Northwestern State University where I met Sherrie, my wife of 44 years. We then celebrated the births of our three children Brittany, Meredith and Brandon.
To this day, the raising of these three blessings has been my greatest accomplishment and one that has ZERO regrets!
Each of us has so many events or situations over the course of a lifetime that we can look back on with either joy or regret. As life continues to give us both good and bad times, just the fact that we are still waking up every day means we have so much joy to look forward to, and hopefully no regrets.
Contact Steve at sgraf26@yahoo.com
