“We all make mistakes and we all have to pay for them sooner or later.”

The other day, I ran into a street performer on my way to see the Acropolis🏛

“Where are you from?” said Dimitry.

I replied, “Austin, Texas.”

“Come here, sit down next to me.”

He picked up his instrument and started to play, “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

I was impressed by his performance 👏

As the music stopped, I asked, “How did you get to where you are?”

“Due to a mistake I made when I was young.”

It turns out that his car insurance had expired three days prior to an accident taking place.

Four people were killed.

He survived.

He said, “I didn’t have to go to jail at the time, but I did have to pay major fines. Fines, I am still paying today.”

The more he shared, the more I was reminded of a time when I drove without car insurance.

“I’m a good driver. I will be okay without it,” I used to think.

However, the reality proved otherwise.

As Penny Glass once told me, “It’s not a matter of ‘if’ it happens, it is a matter of ‘when’ when it happens.”

Luckily, I haven’t been in any major accidents in the recent years.

But, I have had to use my car insurance from time to time.

In fact, I don’t know of a single driver who hasn’t benefited from having insurance.

Nearly, 40 years later, Dimitry is still paying for a mistake he had made long ago.

He concluded by saying, “Learn from my experience … We all make mistakes and we all have to pay for them sooner or later.”