Have you given any thought to your Immortality lately? Having just turned 50 and starting to receive a barrage of materials from AARP, the thought has crossed my mind a time or two and I'm reminded of the following tale of a woman describing her ideal death scene:

"I'd rather die quietly and quickly like my grandfather," she stated, "not screaming like the other people in the car he was driving."

Bad, I know.

But that story came back to me this past week as I visited my son who is singing at the Ohio State Fair this summer. He has participated in the 45th year of the All Ohio State Fair Youth Choir, as I did in 1974, and it has been a life changing experience for him. In part due to the director Charles Snyder who offers a touch of philosophy with his musical direction.

"At night once we are in our bunk beds and the lights are turned out, he tells us a story over the PA system," my son explained. "And last night he posed a question. He asked if we were pulling on the emergency brake of our life. He pointed out that when we pull on that brake, for whatever reason, there are others in the "car" who are forced to stop as well. That when we slack off or miss an entrance/deadline or due just enough to get by, others are affected by our actions."

This is the same son who was questioning rules prior to going to the State Fair just a few weeks before.

So I pose the question to us all, me included, are you pulling on the emergency brake of your life, of your business, of your family?

Are you holding back, waiting for the perfect scenario before trying something new? Are you doing just enough to get by - COASTING - or do you have your foot on the accelerator, hands in the 10/2 position, eyes pointed toward the future, ready for what lies beyond that next curve?

Deborah Chaddock Brown
Writer with her pedal to the metal!