The Concept Of Life - By the Numbers

Oct 24
21:00

2002

David Stoddard

David Stoddard

  • Share this article on Facebook
  • Share this article on Twitter
  • Share this article on Linkedin

316 months ago, I was born into a world where life ... Where people were just going to the ... that:* ... is ... years ago, I was in first grade. Getting new ...

mediaimage

316 months ago,The Concept Of Life - By the Numbers Articles I was born into a world where life was
carefree. Where people were just going to the moon
proving that:

* Everything is possible.

31 years ago, I was in first grade. Getting new pencils
and notebooks and pencil holders and tiny sharpeners
and those rubber erasers were just like Christmas. It
certainly was true that:

* Little things make the difference.

26 years ago, I learned that school was not all that it
has previously been cracked up to be. It was hard and
boring and learning things I personally didn't care
about. I learned that:

* You don't always know why things happen at that moment.

18 years ago, I graduated high school. It was a windy
June evening when my days of childhood wrapped
themselves up. That night, I was to be seen as an
adult. Not long after that, I got my first ticket,
credit card and was supposed to know what I was doing.

* Don't be in such a hurry to grow up.

17 years ago, I had my first part-time job working in
the bowling alley. I only dropped in to bowl.
Afterward, I asked if they were hiring. The owner said
yes, I started 4 days later. You know:

* Sometimes, you just gotta ask.

15 years ago, I got my first real job working at the
newspaper. It is something that I had become interested
in during my senior year of high school, and I was good
at it. I eventually left for something bigger and
better. But no matter what job I've had, I always kept
finding ways to make writing a key in it.

* Start with something you enjoy. Everything will be
based around it.

14 years ago, I learned that the newspaper business,
really is a business. Our managing editor was laid off
without notice in the first of several rounds of
cutbacks

* Doing a great job just doesn't cut it any more.

10 years ago, I moved out on my own for the first time.
Macaroni and cheese, along with bills to pay, writing
to do, Nintendo to play. I felt alive and life was
dear, but I moved back home, the very next year.

* Life looks a lot easier than it is.

9 years ago, my father passed away. It was a shock the
way it happened. No signs, no symptoms, no warning. He
made friends, made people feel comfortable, made them
feel important, and made them laugh. I can't tell a
joke for the life of me. And even if I could, I
couldn't tell many of them here.

* You don't have to be on Oprah to make a difference in
someone's life.

7 years ago, I lost contact with a friend of mine since
high school. Through no one person's fault, we just
never got around to calling or writing each other since.

* Friendship is a 2-way street.

3 years ago, I took a chance. In some respects, it
closed doors to being able to go back to what I once
was. But it has also opened up other opportunities and
contacts with people I probably would never have known.

* You can't grow until you take a few chances.

2 months ago, I bought a bicycle. I started off from
the house and road onto the trails in back. Looking
around, there were no children around riding or walking
or anything. It was as if they had been locked away.

* Times have changed, especially for the kids.

1 day ago, I was being followed by a white van on the
highway. Thoughts rushed through my mind of recent
events near Washington DC. Could this be the same
person? Is it possible that he/she would be all the way
in Missouri by now? Turned out to only be an ice cream
truck. (Complete with ringing bell).

* Things certainly are not like they used to be any more.

Today, we have the chance to change the future. We have
the opportunity to teach and lead and grow and
understand. We can learn from our past without being
prisoner to it. We may not be able to go back with what
we know now, but we can, and must go forward.

The key to life is always learning, always growing and
ever forward. Be sure to stop and smell the flowers
along the way. It's what makes the journey special.
Tomorrow will most likely arrive. And we will be ready
for it. For everything we have learned has brought us
to this point.

We will take the necessary precautions, adjust
accordingly, but never stop living our lives. You can
count on that.

Article "tagged" as:

Categories: