Goals, and the steps along the way

Everyone in my life - parents, teachers, friends and employers have told me to set goals for myself, but not one of them ever told me how to do that. It's one thing to say to yourself "I'm going to be rich" or "I'll be the boss someday", but it's quite a different thing to actually get there. Setting goals should be like asking for directions. You wouldn't want to hear "yeah, that's 54 miles away, on the corner". More steps along the way need to be included. How are you going to get rich? What are you doing right now to become the boss? It could be getting a degree, or just taking a few classes, it could be taking some initiative at your current job and doing things that are not required, or simply doing exactly what is asked of you better than anyone else does it. I think of it like climbing a ladder. True - a bit of an overused analogy, but accurate. Whether you're at the bottom looking up, or on a rung somewhere along the way, It's definitely a step by step journey. Sure, you can attempt to skip a rung here or there, but those rungs are there for a reason. Someone who made that journey before you figured it all out. Skip a step, and you could slip back even farther. At the very least, trying a new shortcut could mean you're missing out on something you need. Take your time, follow the steps required, and don't skip ahead. In most cases, the journey - every part of it - is as important as the destination. Everything that has happened in your life has brought you to where you are, and everything you do from now on will get you where you need to be. Don't avoid rungs on the ladder, use them. Enjoy them. Even linger on them for a while before moving on. So set goals for yourself, but create a road map that gets you there. Call them intermediate goals, short-term achievements, or rungs of the ladder, follow the steps and you'll find that whatever your personal or professional goals are, you can get there. One step at a time.

09.11.2001

There are many types of people effected on 9/11/01. Those that perished, those that were in the buildings but made it out, those that witnessed the attacks first hand, those that knew and loved people lost, and those that watched the catastrophes on TV. Let's remember everything that happened, everyone lost, and how we felt that day. Think about them, pray for them, remember them in your own way.

I was working as a delivery driver for a remodeling company that morning. I arrived at one of the job sites just after the first collision and watched the news there for 15 minutes or so, but had to get to the next job. Arrived there just after the second one. Watched the events unfold there for a couple hours. Not a lot of work got done the rest of the day. I still remember the actual locations and the customers at those jobs more than any others. We shared that historic, terrible, and life-changing day. It is our generation's "where were you when JFK was shot?" or "where you were when Pearl Harbor was attacked?".

I still cry every time the footage of that day is replayed. I wasn't there, I knew no one who was there or was lost, I knew no one on any of the planes or on the ground at any location involved. But that day changed me. Changed the nation, and even the world. Devastating. That's the most fitting word I can think of. A feeling of helplessness, of loss, confusion, anger. Simply devastating.

Please put your political views, your opinion on the reaction to the attacks, and any partisan preferences aside just for today, and comment on this with your thoughts, prayers, or what you were doing on that fateful day, eight short years ago.

Everything is relative

Just catching up on early morning tweets a short while ago, I couldn't help but notice the diversity of age, attitude, and stages of life among those I follow, as well as a bit of whining - for lack of a more suitable word - about their particular situation. A tweet from an eighth grader going to the school bus, a mom whose daughter was starting kindergarten, "where did the time go?", and a woman celebrating her 105th birthday.

I'm somewhere in the middle - I have a son in the eighth grade,but also another son who is married, in the Marines, with a six month old son himself. It's quite interesting, at least to me, to see so many people, with such varied backgrounds and at different points in their lives. The teens want to be older and get more respect, the 20-somethings are for the most part happy where they are in life, the mid-lifers want to be 20-somethings, and the seniors are happy to wake up and get through the day. (not all, just generalizing - not something I do often)

Aside from a bad decision now and again, I'm actually quite happy where my life has gotten me. I'd never be a teenager again, my twenties were awesome but I don't think I want to relive them, thirties were basically a blur for some reason (NOT drug or alcohol related), and now I'm in my forties. A wonderful wife of almost 20 years, two fantastic sons, a daughter-in-law, a grandson, fairly good health, and with any luck, a good job soon.

While it's human nature to wonder or even wish for things to be different or better, I prefer to believe that I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. Perfect? nope. but perfect for me. It's great to set goals, aspire to better yourself, and want the most out of life. We should all do just that. Just don't second guess where you are right now. The past is over, and you did it right if you're reading this - you're still here. The future is going to happen, so don't wish to be older and wiser. You will be - and you'd simply be wasting a wish.

Live for the now, and make the most of it.