{"id":62,"date":"2014-06-04T17:56:41","date_gmt":"2014-06-04T17:56:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/canoe.stephencoleman.net\/?p=62"},"modified":"2014-06-17T02:03:51","modified_gmt":"2014-06-17T02:03:51","slug":"an-update-and","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/canoe.stephencoleman.net\/?p=62","title":{"rendered":"An update, and some rambling thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"StephenTruckWordpress\"<\/a>

“The Beast” – Stephen’s 1988 Ford F150 XLT Lariat<\/p><\/div>\n

I know that it’s been awhile<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>since I last updated this blog. \u00a0I haven’t really made that much progress on the book lately, and I have just been busy! \u00a0Sometimes life happens. \u00a0I had a few minutes this morning to blog, so I decided I would sit down and write an update.<\/p>\n

On the last blog post,<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>I promised that I would explain my own analysis of the video \u201c12505 \/ 12507\u2033. \u00a0I can’t believe that no one left me any comments! \u00a0I’m so shocked, haha!<\/p>\n

For me, “12505” represents a place of deep past regrets. \u00a0It’s a place that I know I can’t ever return to, but that I would certainly return to if given the chance to re-do things. \u00a0I think that for me, “12505” is a storage place of sorts, containing past experiences that molded me, shaped me, defined me, and made me stronger so that I can be the person that I am today in “12506”. \u00a0I think that all of us have a “12505” in our lives, and some of us remain stuck there. \u00a0I know that for a long time, I was. \u00a0But life doesn’t exist in “12505”. \u00a0It exists in “12506” and will continue to exist in “12507”. \u00a0Like the guy in the video, many people would sacrifice a lot in order to be able to return to their “12505” for just a few hours. \u00a0But life goes on. \u00a0We must live for the moment in “12506” and look forward to the future we have in “12507”. \u00a0It has taken me 30+ years to finally realize this. \u00a0At times, I still find a longing in my life to return to my own “12505”, but I know that I can’t. \u00a0All I can do at this point is focus on what lies ahead and be thankful for what I’ve been blessed with in life thus far.<\/p>\n

I have included a picture at the top of “The Beast”<\/strong><\/em>, my 1988 Ford F150. \u00a0I finally got it out of my garage in May and got it going again. \u00a0It hadn’t run or been driven since last October, while I decided what I wanted to do with it. \u00a0I came awfully close to selling the truck, but I have a bond with that ugly old beast\u00a0that I can’t explain! \u00a0The truck came into my life quite by chance in 2011, and I wasn’t really looking to purchase a truck at that time. \u00a0I am the second owner, and the first owner and his wife had it\u00a0from 1988 – 2011. \u00a0The first owner was the father of my great-aunt’s best friend. \u00a0There’s a very sad story behind the family who owned the truck. \u00a0I guess we’re just kindred spirits, and every southern guy needs an ugly old Ford truck in his life! \u00a0It only has 97,000 miles and doesn’t get driven much. \u00a0It’s my truck for hauling the dogs to vet, or going to the lake to go canoeing or fishing.<\/p>\n

Not many people seem to be reading this blog…<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>but that’s ok. \u00a0This blog is\u00a0more of an outlet for me to express my thoughts that sometimes become a train wreck inside my head. \u00a0It gives me an method\u00a0to express what I’m thinking or feeling. \u00a0I look forward to completing the book at some point early next year!<\/p>\n

The experiences we have in our lives mold us and shape us into who we are,<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>but sometimes life deals us such a blow that it cracks us into pieces. \u00a0Recently, my wife and I were helping a relative move out of her house. \u00a0This relative had a little ceramic box that was made in the shape of a heart. \u00a0The lid of the box, which was in the shape of a heart, had been broken right through the middle. \u00a0The box obviously meant something to my relative, and I told her that I’d take it home and attempt to glue it back together with epoxy. \u00a0As I began to glue the heart shaped lid back together, I discovered that there was a tiny chip missing…lost…and never to be found again. \u00a0While the two halves went back together and look presentable from a distance, upon closer inspection you can clearly see that there’s a chip missing that will never be found or seen again.<\/p>\n

Our lives are like this ceramic heart shaped lid. \u00a0Sometimes we suffer injurious cracks, and sometimes we’re shattered so bad that we can never be put together in once piece again. \u00a0We can take the pieces and attempt to glue them back together so that they’re even stronger than before, but there’s always going to be that scar…that chip that’s missing from us.<\/p>\n

There’s a saying that I came across awhile back. \u00a0It goes like this:<\/p>\n

“Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, “Wow, what a ride!” \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

And so when we reach the end of our lives, we will no doubt arrive with chips, nicks, dents, and scratches. \u00a0The chips hurt…for awhile…and they remind us of the traumatic experience that cracked us in the first place. \u00a0But ultimately, the chips and cracks make us stronger and show the world that we are resilient and will survive this journey called “life.” \u00a0Until next time, Godspeed.<\/p>\n

~ Stephen Coleman, June 4th, 2014 ~<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I know that it’s been awhile\u00a0since I last updated this blog. \u00a0I haven’t really made that much progress on the book lately, and I have just been busy! \u00a0Sometimes life happens. \u00a0I had a few minutes this morning to blog, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-random-thoughts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/canoe.stephencoleman.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/canoe.stephencoleman.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/canoe.stephencoleman.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/canoe.stephencoleman.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/canoe.stephencoleman.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/canoe.stephencoleman.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65,"href":"http:\/\/canoe.stephencoleman.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62\/revisions\/65"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/canoe.stephencoleman.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/canoe.stephencoleman.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=62"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/canoe.stephencoleman.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=62"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}