It Never Happens by Accident

Throughout my life there have been times when little things happened, but I never thought twice about the 'how' and 'why' of their occurring. I recall a winter day in my adolescence when I accidentally released the parking break on my father's truck, only to be saved from a certain death by a tree which stood between a steep hill and the patch of land he parked on. Then there was the summer night as a twenty-year-old when I stayed home to read, only to be visited by a veteran of the Vietnam War which led me to a lifetime in Wild Rose. Later in life there have been moments when I pushed myself to learn new ways to learn, either with technologies or by delving into a challenging book. Each "decision" changed my life in ways which I never appreciated at the time, but would later recognize in life as a monumental step.
I believe that I live in a world where we are provided freedom to make individual decisions on the personal judgement and direction of our life, but I also acknowledge that there are moments when something happens not by accident, but with the hand of an unknown force. It impacts us in ways which change the future for all those around us, yet all too many people are unable to recognize it for what it is.

Is the "art" of conversation dying?

We live in an age of rapidly changing communication in both the media and means by which we interact with one another. Whether we e-mail, tweet, blog or transpose our thoughts in a consortium of ways which satisfy our ego for the moment at hand, all too often we accept all of this as the best way to interact with one another. However, I question how we have allowed ourselves to escape open and honest dialogue with one another...often replacing it with text messaging and blurbs of anchronized retorts such as LOL, ROFL, LMAO, FML, and WTF. Some will say the world is becoming smaller, but I tend to see it as a deteriorating ability to interact with others in a verbal and civilized manner.And worse of all, it may very well widen the generation gap at a time when important lessons from those of an older, more experienced generation would be well deserved. As a society we have a wide assortment of tools at our disposal, yet we ignore one of the more meaningful...the way in which we sit and converse with one another, exchanging opinions and pondering new ideas. Rather than focusing so much on ourselves and being concerned about expressing our own likes and dislikes, let's take the initiative to actually listen to what others are saying.