Podcast Center
Video Center
Webcasts
Resource Center
Events
January 01, 2010 at 02:00 AM
I firmly push the accelerator and grip the shift lever as the race propels me toward lap 2010. Still, before I make the final decisive move, I cannot help but glance into my rearview mirror to lap 2009. In contrast to the track ahead of me which appears smooth and full of promise, lap 2009 is a blazing mess. Twisted metal from collisions, smoke and ash from previous blow-outs, and the wreckage of intermittent smaller fires clutter the track making me think, “I may not be winning, but at least I survived.”
Easing into the next turn, I quickly rewind the videotape in my head to the same race, exactly one year ago. The view ahead is frightening. My memory footage shows me accelerating into lap 2009 at the same break-neck pace but with eyes closed, hands clenching the steering wheel, and continuously screaming my favorite curse word. I saw it all coming but there are no pit-stops in the race of life, are there?
Since I am just about out of car racing references, let me step out of my Super Charged 1978 Pacer for a moment to get to the point. As I get older, I find myself surveying the broader landscape of my friends and acquaintances more frequently. I’m looking for — and finding — life-altering events taking place among these folks. A death, a disease (“is it the Big C?”), a home foreclosure or a divorce are just some of the land mines placed strategically along the track. It is truly humbling to realize that the race has changed and some are left in the wreckage while others either cruise or limp along.
Having survived my own share of spin-outs over the past couple of years I am personally getting back to my cruising speed. Unfortunately, a couple of incidents stand out to me that illustrate the wreckage we all fear.
