There is not much sense in setting one’s foot upon the road and not traveling the fullest possible distance. – James Madison
James Madison was one of the most useful people our nation has produced. A planter from Virginia, he served our country in the House of Representatives, as Secretary of State and was the fourth president of the United States and his influence on our Constitution cannot be underestimated, the result of his guiding hand. Today’s thought was directed at Thomas Jefferson, who didn’t really want to go on as a long a trip with Madison as Madison had suggested.
There is no substitute for getting the most out of our time on this planet. There comes when everyone must examine their life, usually when our time comes to die. I don’t have personal experience in this matter yet, but it seems to me no one staring eternity in the face is wishing they would have worked more or watched more television. They are probably wishing they had done less of these things, honestly.
We must withdraw every possible benefit from every circumstance life offers us. We must keep forging ahead with our path until we are told “all right, that’s enough’.
My own personal experience comes from sports officiating. Like most officials I started out working youth sports. I did some junior college baseball and that was as high as I got. The JC I was working for joined a conference and the conference didn’t hire me. All right, I ended up having a completely satisfying high school officiating career, with more championship and other big games than most received. I became about as good as I was going to get and accomplished all I cared to, one of life’s great prizes.
There is not much sense in setting one’s foot upon the road and not traveling the fullest possible distance…
To do less is to cheat ourselves and when we cheat ourselves we are also cheating our fellow beings because only when we are getting the most out of our individual experiences can society get the most out of our collective experience. We must withdraw every benefit from every situation.
