The Good Life... a weblog about life, technology, and the Opera web browser

A friend from high school told me today that someone from our school committed suicide over the weekend. When I called someone at LC from home to tell her, she told me that someone else had overdosed on Saturday. Add to that fears of a serial killer and pending war with Iraq and all of a sudden I was having trouble understanding the things happening to our world.

In the past couple of months, I've found too many ways to waste time, leaving little time for the things I need to do, let alone the things I enjoy doing. Slowly, I'm beginning to realize that the mundane tasks of life are here to stay and I might as well find some way to enjoy them. I can't count on good moods to get me through hard times. I can't continue neglecting the tasks given to me and expect to miraculously find success in the Real World.

Sometimes I feel silly mentioning all these insignificant trials, considering the horrible state of the world. I can't imagine the worthlessness necessary to push a person to suicide nor the desperation necessary to lead to drug use/misuse/overdose. I have hope. The reason I make it through the minor trials is because I know there is something better in my future. That reason is Jesus Christ.

We struggle every day to be significant, to make a difference, and to find our place in society. But significance can't be found in fame, money, or glamour; it's found in relationships. It's found in the things we do every day, successes obtainable by everyone.

When I was trying to figure out how to handle all the craziness of this world, I prayed to God for clarity of thought and reassured hope. Later, I prayed with a friend (thanks, Betsy) about the things on my heart. I truly believe that by praying, I'm doing what I can to help God win the spiritual battle raging all around us. The weight of this world lifted off my shoulders and my hope for this world was restored.

If you have the secret to the good life, you'd share it with others, right? That's why I write things like this. I want to share the good life. I'm sorry that no one could reach the two young women that died this weekend. May they rest in peace and may others learn the importance of friends and family and personal significance before it's too late.

This weekend was the first time I've driven home from school to my parent's new home. After living at our old house for eight years and getting used to judging times and distances based on its location, this new place is going to take some getting used to. Of course, it's only about 5 houses from the house I grew up in, but that's not the point.

I crossed the Chespeake Bay Bridge four times in the past two days. My parents have an E-Zpass, which is supposed to make paying tolls much easier by making an electronic transaction while you slowly pass through an unmanned booth. Unfortunately, the first time I went through the toll, the E-Zpass didn't work and I had no choice but to drive away without paying the toll.

If you've ever run a toll, you're probably familiar with the hockey buzzer sound, letting everyone within a half mile know "THIS GUY RAN THE TOLL WITHOUT PAYING!!!" Fear of embarrassment was enough to deter me from using the E-Zpass lane the next time I crossed the bridge. Of course, some cavernous corner of my pocket managed to hide one dime, forcing me to unwittingly short the toll booth lady ten cents.

Thankfully, the following two trips across the bridge proved uneventful.