Stories - FD Thornton

It's been about 5 days since my last post, and each week I'm pleasantly surprised by the number of you that actually read these things. Although, I may not pull Bieber or GaGa numbers, I'm still proud (or worried, depending how I feel) that something I said may help someone.  My intent was never to sell ad space (sorry Google). But, that somehow maybe something I've learned through my years of missed-up experiences, might help someone else. Because sometimes being human means not selling your story to anyone with $24.99 for the hardcover edition. It means giving freely, to whoever can use the help. Now don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against motivation or self-help. Maybe I'm of a mindset that as I give I receive, I hope anyway.  Besides, who would pay for a story that hasn't been finished yet? When that friend of mine told me a few weeks ago now how impressed he was with my wisdom, knowledge, or whatever it was. That statement still has me shak

Over the finite number of years I've spend on earth I have put on a lot of hats. I've been a son, brother, friend, boyfriend, husband, and a dad. I have done a lot of things in my life I worked in stores, sold electrical supplies, worked as a printer, bricklayer, cabinet maker, I paved roads, worked on trains, ran a warehouse, was a security guard, prison guard, and a dish washer.  My life has taken me up to Chicago, down to New Orleans, across the Gulf Coast, through Florida, over the Blue Ridge Mountains, into South Carolina, and along the barrier islands of Georgia. In nearly all those places I got to either see the sunrise or sunset.  And while I still dream to do more and see more things. I can say life has been good. If for nothing else but the fact my wife and I have four healthy, good kids. So while I feel my journey is nowhere near complete, I can still say I did good.  I guess the point to this is don't be satisfied if your not satisfied with where you are.

To tell you the truth, I shouldn't write these things  when I have a headache. But, I'm here in my little office bored and not a lot left to do, so here we go. I just come off a pretty hard Monday night of work. The team I worked with had a report due and it was looking more and more like the deadline was not going to get made.  You see, one of the team members was having every problem under the sun. First it was bad weather, than poor Internet a connection, then the electricity goes out. You get the picture. The real problem was they never told us about any of this until the report had already been written and sent away. An hour before they decided to let us know.  Now you may say, "ah! give them the benefit of the doubt, after all look at the situation." You know, I'd totally agree, if this wasn't their excuse two weeks in a row. I would have given more consideration to, "my dog ate my report", then the same excuse two weeks in a row.  I like

Over the past week, I've been involved in an interesting discussion with a young man and others about how pressure can affect personal talent. In my own life I know exactly what can happen when pressure is applied to talent. You see, I have known for a very long time that I had the potential to do really well. The good Lord gave me a nice set of talents that despite myself, have served me well, although in a limited way. You see, despite whatever talents I possess at the same time life dealt me some unfortunate feelings and mindsets that have taken me some time to overcome.  It was those mindsets that crippled me and my potential. It was those mindsets that I had to learn to defeat. If I told you it has been easy, I'd be a liar. If I told you I won all the battles, I again would be a liar.  Over the past number of months, I've wanted to discuss this. But as many of you know, I'm trying to secure a more permanent job. And, speaking openly about one's shortcomin

You know, I can only take so much technology, information, and people in general. Now don't get me wrong, I love technology, learning new things, and being around people. It's just that at some point you need to find the off switch.  I grew up just outside Savannah, Georgia and although I watched my world go from black and white to color TV, from antenna to cable to satellite back to antenna again, and from pagers, to cellphones, to desktops, to the Internet, to smartphones, to tablets (try saying that in one breath). I even saw men walk on the moon become routine (at lest for a while).  I guess what I'm getting at is, while we are still tribal creatures who need social interaction. We are also beings that require time for reflection and soul-searching. Which is why after a time of information gathering and social interaction. I also need time introspection, to look at how things like technology, information, and people, are effecting me.  In the title I used the

You ever have a day where you were not particularly inspired by anything? I mean I went to class, answered some emails, did some research, went shopping, checked more emails, worked on my income taxes, then thought about this post. Yet I wasn't inspired.  Some people live by mantras, you know, things like "seize the day" or "make this time count". Now I got nothing against that sorta' thing, I mean, I like getting things done myself. It's just that...it's rained all day, it's raining even now. I got nothing against raining ( seems like I got nothing against anything at this point, doesn't it ). I guess what I'm trying to say is, not being inspired is ok. You can have does days where, you know. Where's my inspiration?   So if your like me today, hopping in and out of rain storms and then coming home to dry off, inspired by nothing, your not alone. Because every so often, school is just school, work is just work, and email is just..

Across the street from my house is an old pecan tree. It's pretty old and for the most part has outlived its usefulness. There's one hanging limb on that tree that's broken at the top and rotting on that end. Now like I said, it's pretty far gone, it barely produces any pecans and doesn't offer much shade. But still, nearly every morning, as the sun is breaking the dawn, you can hear the ratta', tap, tap, of a redheaded woodpecker slowly tapping out a hole at the end of that rotting limb.  Now it's rare enough to see a woodpecker in town, even one as small as this one. So I consider myself lucky to see this bird working on their job every morning. After seeing and hearing this guy or gal (not sure which one does the work) in the morning. It got me thinking, here he or she is tapping away at that old tree, steady at it, for two weeks now. Craving out just a little at a time until he or she is done.  You know, our lives are that way. We see a long-term goa