Ponder Me This...

Ponder the following six questions. You don’t need to come up with the actual answers – you’ll get the point:

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series winners.

How did you do? I couldn’t come up with many of the answers. While all of the above achievements are great, their impacts on our individual lives are generally quite small.

Now, another quiz:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Much easier, eh? The people who made the greatest impact on your life aren’t necessarily the richest, strongest, most beautiful, brightest or most celebrated. They’re the simply the people that cared the most.

And so it doesn’t matter if you’re not Mitch Hewer or Mark Zuckerberg or Carlos Slim; your ability to leave this world with a little more love hasn’t been diminished

On the Trail to Damascus

While I haven’t yet started making official plans, I know that I will soon be doing one of the things that I most want to accomplish in my life. I’m almost embarrassed about how excited I get when I think about it. It isn’t something that I want to do. It is something that I know I must do.

Starting in the summer of 2012 I will begin to hike the Appalachian Trail. Since I do not have the six months (or stamina) required to complete the entire trail I plan to be a section hiker starting in the south and completing each of the four sections in consecutive years.

For three years I lived ten minutes away from the trail where it passes through Damascus, Virginia. I have day hiked a significant portion of the Virginia miles, but I never spent the night and always returned to my car at the end of the day.

When I think about the journey I can only smile. Even though the trail receives thousands of visitors every year I still believe it to be a special distinction to be an AT hiker. Starting today and for the next several months I plan to read all I can about the trail. There is nothing I want more than to be dropped off in Georgia, perhaps with a friend, and take a Walk in the Woods.

Hold on! Its a-comin'

Okay okay.....you caught me. My name is Andrew and I am addicted to conspiracy theories. It runs in the family.

My current obsession really isn't a true conspiracy theory, but its close. Have you wondered if the recent mysterious bird and fish deaths mean something more than "a lightening strike," or "a natural occurrence?" I have. And it seems that others have thought the same thing. Thanks to an email I received today from a fellow conspirator I was made aware of a vast amount of information that is linking the recent mysterious deaths to a pending New Madrid earthquake.

I read several. Here is a link to one. So....do you believe?

An Unkindness of Ravens

I was stopped in the store yesterday by a long-time friend. This friend asked me, with great concern, why I was leaving my safe and secure recession proof job. As I was inspecting some bananas I answered with, “It’s a long story,” and a smile. She wished me the best and we parted. I continued my shopping with my mind spitting out a much better answer. This is what I could have told her…

Sometimes when you're young, you think nothing can hurt you. It's like being invincible. Your whole life is ahead of you, and you have plans. Big plans. To find your perfect match. To find your perfect place. But as you get older, you realize it's not always that easy. It's not until the end of your life that you realize how the plans you made were simply plans. At the end, when you're looking back instead of forward, you want to believe that you made the most of what life gave you. You want to believe that you're leaving something good behind. But most of all…you want it all to have mattered.