Stories - FD Thornton

I've been taking the last few days to reflect on a few things. Mainly refocusing myself and looking at the goals I have set. You know, every so often you have to do that, you have to reset the switches that focus your passions. Several years ago I became laser fixed on a goal, and now that that goal has been met, it's time to reset that laser sight.  The problem I am having is, I was so fixed on that first goal, I'm now having trouble resetting and refocusing on a new target. Maybe this is what happens to an athlete who is so fixed on one goal, that once the goal is reached they feel kinda lost. Now I'm not sure that really happens, but I would how it did to me.  I guess you're thinking, why is it so difficult to reset your sights? I my answer would be, putting out so much time, effort, and energy to one goal really drained my focus. It may not sound like much of an excuse, but when you're a late bloomer at reaching goals, that's just how I've felt l

I was sitting on my pouch  a little while ago, taken a break from sitting for too long at my desk. My back is better, but I still get sore and stiff if I sit-up too long. So I went outside for a change of pace to walk around a bit and relax in my rocker. ( I now understand why President Kennedy kept one in the Oval Office.)  While sitting there I asked myself why I was seemingly punishing myself continuing to do this course work. I mean, I finished a lifelong goal of earning my bachelor's degree last year. After all the blood, sweat, and tears I went through for that, why the hell am I in graduate school?  As I rocked a few minutes feeling the warm breeze, listening to a bird's call, and hearing the distant sound of a lawn mower, a quiet voice said, " because you're greedy ". For a moment that took me aback, then I remembered that famous movie line, " greed is good ". But I for the purpose of what  I'm saying here, it has nothing to do with money

I'm Southern born and raised, I don't run from that mostly because it's true. I grew up in the Savannah Georgia area, about 12 miles outside the city. While many in Savannah may consider that town now, back in the sixties and seventies, we were barely suburbia. More like country suburbia with few paved streets, two gas stations, and a post office.  So you can say my upbring was a cross between Mayberry and Port City Chic ( I'll let you figure that one out ). Meaning while younger we could ride the roads on our bikes for hours without our parents worrying. And at the same time, being a stones throw away from a major Southern port city and the manufacturing jobs it produced. On my street, we were nearly all Union Camp babies, with our Dad's working shift work at the largest paper mill in the world.  That was my worldview living the middle class suburban dream with a country twist. But as many my age remember, a lot of that dream faded way before this last recessio

When running a race or playing a game, it's easy to measure success, mainly because you either won or not. I life however, things aren't so black and white. At any given time you can read or watch a story about the latest successful star heading to rehab due to whatever problems in their life. While you may have a friend or family member who doesn't have two pennies to rub together and they're as content as they can be.  So how should we measure our success? And, just because we don't measure up to others standards, does that make us failures?  These are questions that weigh on me from time to time. And, each time I think I have the answer, the line blur and I end up asking the same questions again. Today is no different, I find myself asking questions about my successes. Have I done enough? Can I do more? What do I need to do to complete this goal? I suspect everyone reading this has done this from time to time. Which gets me to thinking, is that a wise thing t

I try and see things as half full most of the time. But I wonder if that mindset is so against my hardwiring that it causes conflicts within myself. Without exposing too much of my personal laundry, when you're exposed to a lot of negative energy in our life. You tend to believe what you've been exposed to. So while I have great deal of victories over that negative energy I was exposed to. The cancer of that exposure is very much present within me. I guess the greater question is, what do I do about it? Do I continue as if it isn't here? Or do I accept the fact this is within me and it needs to be fought? Most of us have a battle or conflict raging within us. It can be an addiction or a fear or another condition that's beyond our control. It may have nothing to do with the quality of our lives or careers. But then again, it may have everything to do with them. Either way, how satisfied can you be unless the issue is addressed? While you may have a positive attitud

I know, you'd think I could come up with a better title, right. I guess my point here is each of us needs a point of rest and for most that starts Saturday. As we get caught up "living" Monday through Friday the world does nothing more than drain our batteries dry. So as you walk through life remember to take a moment to recharge.  Recharging doesn't have to mean loading the car/truck getting out in weekend traffic and forcing yourself to have a good time. It can mean after a rough day laying on the bed and pulling out the Kindle and reading that guilty pleasure. I'm sure many of you are like me and get awaken by stressful dreams at night. I'm noticing lately that instead of forcing myself back to sleep, if I cut on my lamp and read a few pages of a good escape novel. I end up relaxing again and hitting myself in the head with my Kindle.  I guess the point of this one is just because you work hard, doesn't mean you have to play hard (unless, you want t

Since I'm going through a little writer's block, I decided to clean out my frig, if you will. Over the last few months I've collected a number of half finished stories. So instead of waiting for the inspiration to come, I think I'll post them as they are and let everyone who reads then,  finish 'em themselves. I laid them out in order from oldest draft to latest. So enjoy. A Tale of Two Friends Recently I was looking at some photos of an old friend of mine. For some silly reason I thought how old he looked, not thinking how damn old I look to him. While I looked at the pictures of him and his family, I couldn't help but think of how we had changed over the years.  Then I thought about the similarities and the  differences we had taken in our lives since we were attached at the hip. I started my family a little earlier than he did. In fact, I divorced and married again before my friend married to first time. As you may have figured, this was the dividing line

This week while making arrangements to get treatment for my well documented problem, I was asked an interesting question, " What is the most important in the world to live for? " For a second the question threw me back, but the first thing that popped into my head was, "to be happy." I guess my answer satisfied the women taking the information. But the question did get me thinking, what is the most important thing?  I guess out of the 6 or so billion people in the world, you'd get at least 4 or 5.5 billion different answers. I guess the thing that strikes me about the question is how it can change during different times in your life. My answer was because I'm at a point in my life where if I'm not happy, how can I make others happy? But earlier in my life my answer may have been my parents, or my music, my wife, or my kids. Each of these are still important, it's just that I realize without keeping myself going, nothing else's going to work eith