With each new day, a new list for living

Published Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.
Last updated Friday, July 11, 2008 at 8:40 p.m.

Today is my birthday, which means it's time to examine my goals for the past year and assess whether I've met them.

I've been conducting this annual review for some time, but it started in earnest years ago, when I was told I have an incurable and often fatal disease.

Goals change and shift with time, as they should. I mean, show me someone whose thinking hasn't changed in 20 years and I'll show you a corpse.

When I was 20 my goals included getting an A in zoology and landing a job at a weekly newspaper. I got a B, but landed that job.

My goals changed after I got married. Living in Southern California and working at a newspaper didn't seem like enough when I had someone else's happiness to look after. Somewhere along the way "mine" became "ours" and we moved to Florida.

I'd like to say "We lived happily ever after" but life continued to challenge us. In the fall of 1995, I was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, a degenerative neuromuscular disorder in which the neurons linking the brain die. Its victims become paralyzed and often die within five years, usually of asphyxiation when the disease attacks their diaphragm.

There is no known cause, no effective treatment and no cure.

The following isn't a list of places to go or things to do before you die. There are books and movies for that.

Go to church. One of the goals I didn't meet was how often I attend church or Mass.

If I had my druthers I'd go every day, or at least a couple of times a week. That's a lot more than the rate of two or three times a year I go now.

And being paralyzed in a wheelchair isn't an excuse. I just have to be more insistent and improve my planning.

Honor each day. It's been said in many ways and languages, from carpe diem in Latin to joie de vivre in French. They mean live each day as if it's your last.

Think well of everyone. That's a tall order, I know. And coming from someone who can't act on anything, it may seem hypocritical. Yet, every action begins with a thought, which makes what we think that much more important.

Reach higher. Bill McIlwain, a former executive editor of the Herald-Tribune, used to exhort his staff with a notebook that ended with the words, 'Onward, upward.' That was his way of reminding us to extend ourselves and reach for the stars.

Write 200 words every day. That's my goal. But I didn't meet that one. I'd also like to answer e-mails and finish writing a book of short stories.

Well I'd better get at it. I don't want to keep the critics waiting. Onward, upward.

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Rich Brooks can be reached at rich.brooks@heraldtribune.com.


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