Random Thoughts

I was reading some old blogs I'd posted (actually they aren't even that old) about some wierd random thoughts that I'd had on a couple of days. I'll cut and paste them down at the bottom of this blog but I find it odd thinking about "random" thoughts. Are they really all that random? I mean aren't most of our thoughts pretty random in general? I work in the healthcare field and some of the best medicines had to be random thoughts because who really thinks something in gila monster spit is going to make a great medicine for people with borderline diabetes? I mean really now! But our own random thoughts seem to be our most creative moments. Do you think the person who wrote the poems everyone knows and loves didn't start out with a random thought? About the only place in this world where random thoughts are frowned upon are schools. Which I find to be a bit of an oxymoron because schools are supposed to teach us to use our creativeness to find new ways to do things. How many of us had our creativity and imagination squelched by some teacher who was a little too enthusiastic with their red pen?

Thankfully many of us get through the craziness of a formal education with a tiny bit of our imagination intact. Some of us do not. And those are the people whose glass is half empty, who can't seem to see the brighter side of things because they've lost the ability to imagine something better. Of course, some of these people have wildly overactive imaginations and can picture the world being out to get them. So, I guess while most all of us lose the infallible imagination of our childhood many do retain a slightly warped version as adults. Maybe we see things a little more rosy than they are or maybe it's a little grayer but I guess it keeps us entertained (or other people anyway)!

Hmmm, that was kind of a random post but here are the promised "random thoughts" from past days:

How does Numa Numa get stuck in your head in the middle of the woods while it's pouring down rain? Better yet, how do you get it OUT of your head?

Why is it that everyone says that female drivers are so bad? I got rear-ended by an idiot GUY who wasn't watching the road! Frankly, women drivers are more polite and THAT'S what I think men have an issue with. Didn't your mothers ever teach you to take turns?

If the rain comes pouring in the hallway window of an apartment complex, does anyone care?

Whatever happened to common courtesy?

Hiking in the rain is awesome. Everyone should try it out!

Who ruined my fresh air with cigarette smoke?

Why do women put on perfume to go to an all women's gym at 5:30 in the morning? I wonder if they shower first too?

Unperforated toilet paper is about as fun as unperforated spiral notebooks. It's a little annoying but is it really necessary to be perforated? Scott Tissue needs to sharpen their perforating blades.

Do single adults or married adults act more like "adults?"

Why can't people figure out rotaries? And why do the construction companies insist on tearing out a perfectly good rotary and putting in something that confuses the hell out of all drivers?

Does having cruise control give you better gas mileage?

Why do I have chocolate in my gym bag?

A lot of people sure are in a hurry to get to the liquor store on a Friday night.

I love the smell of the organic food department in the grocery store.

(Seen on a bumper sticker) "I'm not anti-Bush. I'm anti-stupidity."

Long Trip Alone

I had a friend tell me something one time that has bugged me to this day and made me think, did he really believe what he said? I'm not exactly sure what we were talking about but it had something to do with relationships. His comment was somewhere along the lines of "even if you're with someone you're still alone. You still die alone." I think at the time I was pretty much stunned and couldn't really even come up with a reply. To this day I can't quite put my finger on why this bothers me so much. Well, other than I don't believe it at all. At this time I'm single. There aren't any prospects out there either. I have only a handful of good friends, most of them live in states hundreds of miles away. When I'm not at work I'm home alone. Lonely usually. But the words that my friend spoke conjure up in my mind something darker than just loneliness. I've been in a relationship where my life revolved around the other person. I didn't do anything without considering the other person. My life and her life were one. We weren't alone, we were "all one." We had two lives wrapped together into one. I guess some people would say they'd rather be free to do what they choose but a relationship that's worth anything isn't going to keep you from doing what you want, being who you are. If that's the relationship you're looking at then you've got it all wrong.

But back to my friend's comment. I still can't quite put into words just how sad the comment made me. There's a song called "Long Trip Alone" that makes me think of this conversation with my friend. If you think about the big picture, our lives are pretty short and meaningless unless there are other people in it. I may spend most of my time outside of work alone but I never feel the loneliness that my friend's comment conjured up in my mind. Sure, I'm alone but there are friends out there on this journey with me who will always be there for me. And someday I do hope to find that someone who will take this long trip called life with me. And if not, I'm still not alone. Friends will always cross my path, take my hand and walk with me for a little while. And if life takes that friend away, another comes along to walk with me. And because I still don't feel like I adequately put into words how my friend's comment effected to me, I'll leave you with the words of the song that say it so much better than I can.

DIERKS BENTLEY LYRICS

"Long Trip Alone"

It's a long trip alone over sand and stone
That lie along the road that we all must travel down

So maybe you could walk with me a while
And maybe I could rest beneath your smile
Everybody stumbles sometimes and needs a hand to hold
'Cause it's a long trip alone

It's a short piece of time but just enough to find
A little peace of mind under the sun somewhere

So maybe you could walk with me a while
And maybe I could rest beneath your smile
You know we can't afford to let one moment pass us by
'Cause it's a short piece of time

And I don't know where I'd be without you here
'Cause I'm not really me without you there

Yea Yeah
Yea Yeah oh

So maybe you could walk with me a while
Maybe I could rest beneath your smile
Everybody stumbles sometimes and needs a hand to hold

So maybe you could walk with me a while
Maybe I could rest beneath your smile
Maybe I could feel you right beside me 'til I'm home
'Cause it's a long trip alone