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Inside February 17, 2004's Issue

-Opinions-

Letter to the Editor...

 

Time to laugh again

By Jason Sapp
[email protected]
Staff Writer

More than 12 years after I wrote my first article for a newspaper, I finally had a chance to write what had made me want to start writing in the first place, my very own column.

Even though it had been a long time, I still remembered my pre-set up to writing. A 16 oz. coke, a new black pen where you can smell the ink when you first take the top off and some blaring rock music in the background.

Now I was ready. I drank my coke, bobbed my head, put my pen to the paper and did nothing. Absolutely nothing. My mind was a complete blank. In the past, I had plenty of ideas to write about but now that I had a forum for them nothing was coming out.

So now what?

In an attempt to recapture some of the lost magic, I dug out my old tote box that held all my stuff from elementary school through Georgia Highlands College. I kept looking for my old articles but I could not find them. I was getting quite aggravated.

As time passed by, something else caught my eye. I stopped looking for my articles and started looking through the items that represented all of the highlights of my life; high school graduation pictures, Eagle Scout pictures, speaking awards and pictures of myself, my friends and family vacations.

As I looked through this stuff, I was transported backwards in time as each picture or award brought back images that allowed me to re-live the whole experience. It was fantastic.

Then I found my old �Six Mile Post� articles. They weren't much help.

As you grow older and as your mental outlook changes, one often feels old thoughts were ridiculous. This is the way I viewed my old articles.

However, my articles did help me for that in looking for them, I found something else. I realized before I got tangled up in working 60 hours a week as a manager in a hectic environment, I used to do something else.

I used to smile and laugh out loud. I used to enjoy living life. I used to dream and ponder and experiment. I used to be a canvas of untapped potential just waiting to make my mark in the world.

I have not done this for a long time. I am older now and have many responsibilities, probably much like yourself. One thing I have always regretted is that we are never properly prepared for the potholes in the road of life, whatever they may be. Dead end jobs, pregnancy, drugs, alcoholism and family problems are just a few examples.

Many people, like myself, have already hit one or more potholes of life, or are soon to be one of the individuals to hit a few of them.

You know the old statement, stop and smell the roses. I never heard of a simpler concept that was so hard to achieve. Life is a very busy activity and most people are busy avoiding or getting out of these potholes.

Well, I am going to try to achieve this simple concept. I am going to try to look deep inside myself and rediscover the real me, the person that I used to be before I became bogged down with the negative side of life. I will become the old me, every once and awhile.

I invite you to make this journey with me. To do the same no matter what challenges, big or small, you may be facing at the moment. The good times and bad times are like two sides of the same coin. It takes one to appreciate the other.

I have lost eight years of my life by just working and not living. I won't make the same mistake the next eight years. I will keep on working a hectic schedule, and I will also continue going to school to finish my degree. But most importantly, life is worth living, so I will find the little and big joys of it and start laughing again.

 
 
 

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