Ode to life...

It's interesting to me how greatly a piece of music can impact your train of thought. Or at least the degree to which it can impact mine. I'm not talking about any of that emo BS that overwhelms popular music in today's society. I'm talking about real music.

Everyone dies alone. Even if you're with someone, you will die alone on some level. It is impossible for all of those who are nearest and dearest to your heart to be with you in the last few moments of life, when you most want for them to be there. Many of those people who mean the most to you will have already passed or will have drifted out of your life, and the majority of the others simply won't be there. This is a sad fact of life that we simply must accept.

Another - you will not accomplish everything in life that you wish to accomplish. I have aspirations out the wazoo, but I can assure you now, this will continue to be true until the day I die. Or maybe as people age, they tend to lose motivation, they no longer care about attaining so many lofty goals. Who knows. But even if this is the case, it's simply an abandonment of unmet aspirations. A realization that such goals are unrealistic.

How can one not be overwhelmed by such thoughts? I think about how much stress to which I subject myself, and the copious amounts to which others subject themselves, and I reflect. Why? Why do we insist on bogging ourselves down with these worldly burdens? How does it benefit us? We make the argument that we stress ourselves now to benefit our future. College students stress in classes so that they can have good jobs, and make a decent wage, ultimately seeking an easier life in the future not filled with financial hardships and instabilities. Middle-aged people work heavily to earn money and save money so that they can enjoy their retirement. We're always looking to the future.

Now, I'm not saying we shouldn't look to the future, because if we focus solely on the present, we'll undoubtedly find ourselves in an enormous bind very quickly. And one cannot find happiness when one has no food or home, or friends to help support them. It's important to keep sight of what will be important several years from now. But to live life in such a way that we are overwhelmed by stress and pressure on a daily basis to ease our future is no better. There has to be some balance.

What if you died tomorrow? Will you be happy? Will you be satisfied with the life that you've lived or with the experiences and memories you've had?

We must accept life for what it is. It is not always glorious, and it is not always everything we'd like it to be. But if we don't go through life with a smile on our face, making the best of what comes our way, we'll die alone and unhappy. Know that those who are not with you are there - in your heart. Know that we cannot win every battle in life - there can only be one number one. You won't always be the smartest, the fastest, the funniest. You are who you are - accept it, embrace it, be happy about it, and make the best of it. Do what you know is the right thing to do, and don't let yourself do anything that you will regret. This is the only way to succeed in life. Forget about money and salary, forget about your possessions, forget all of these superficial and or materialistic aspects of life. None of them matter in the end.

Oh yeah!

So. I haven't written in this thing for so long, most people (which means like the 2 people who ever read it in the first place) probably forgot I even have this. But anyway, what the hell, I'll write something.

I want to make my own prognostications for football. I said I think the score of the UF- Georgia game will be 35-14 in UF's favor. But I want to be more specific. I think this could potentially be a very easy game for Florida to overlook. The dawgs are going to go into Jacksonville looking for a big upset, and despite their weaknesses this year, they have the potential. If the gators look down on them at all, there could be serious trouble. But there was a bye week, and I have complete faith in Urban Meyer to keep the players' heads on straight. With that being said, I expect Chris Leak to shut up his naysayers and crank out at least 3 touchdowns. Further, I expect to see a nicely rejuvinated DeShawn Wynn put up season high numbers, just to let Georgia have to respect the run and pass. I expect the defense to slap around wide-eyed true freshman quarterback Matthew Stafford and I predict a forecast of a 40% chance of pee.

Georgia is smart, they'll figure out a way to put up some points on the board. Mark Richt, despite his gigantic butt for a face, is a decent coach. Urban Meyer is better. The gators win this one without much trouble.

The biggest irony of this weekend will be for anyone who attends the game, and realizes that despite the fact that they are in and around Altell Stadium, they won't be able to complete a cell phone call for the life of them.