His Perspective
A few whiles ago, I penned a blog titled ‘Just A Thought’ and in it, I shared my personal email and invited YOU to be my guest. This space, this avenue is allllll yours !! I stated. Whenever you feel that inkling, PLEASE !! tell me and anyone who frequents this site what you think. My hope in offering my simple service was to help each of us realize that when we get right down to the bare bones, our thoughts and ponders are soooooo very much alike and YaY. We would all get along.
With that being said, I’d like to offer my latest installment.
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His Perspective
Do you ever wake up and feel like it’s going to be just a regular, boring old day? I mean, it’s Thursday morning, in the middle of October. We’re not quite to the holiday season, but we’re past summer vacations. We’re close to the weekend, but not quite there. Day 291, or 79.7% of the way through 2018 for those of you that are mathematically inclined.
I’m guilty of getting stuck in my routine and just going through the motions some days and I’m sure I’m not the only one who does that occasionally. But today is different for me. October 18 is actually a pretty historic day and I hope over the course of these next few minutes, I can help you realize how important today really is and help us ALL open our eyes to the importance of each and every day.
Two years ago today, I celebrated the birth of my youngest son. At that point, October 18 became an important day for me and my family. This got me to wondering though, what else has happened on October 18 to make it an important and even historic day for others. And whether you realize it or not, there are events that happened on this very date 10, 20, 50, even hundreds of years ago that impact people all over the world.
For example, today is Alaska Day, a legal holiday in the state of Alaska where many schools release early and businesses close for the day. On October 18, 1867, the Untied States took formal control of Alaska from Russia. The land was purchased for $7 million, or $.02 per acre. Despite what sounds like a great bargain for the U.S. it wasn’t until the Klondike Gold Strike in 1896 that Alaska was considered by many to be a valuable addition to American history.
Is anybody a college football fan? On October 18, 1873, the first rules for college football were drawn up by representatives from Rutgers, Yale, Columbia and Princeton. That said, this was a list of 12 rules, that more closely resembled what we know as soccer. It wasn’t until the mid-1870’s that colleges began to embrace a rugby-style game and it’s been evolving ever since. I would still like to thank those representatives that met on this day in New York, 145 years ago because in my mind, their vision from the beginning involved someone like me being able to sit on my couch next Saturday with my chips and dip watching the Georgia vs. Florida game on CBS.
In 1892, the first long-distance telephone line between New York and Chicago was officially opened. It could handle one call at a time. While we have evolved to a point where the mere mention of the phrase “long-distance phone call” may seem unheard of to younger generations, it’s hard to imagine where communication would be, had we not started at that point 126 years ago.
In 1969, the Jackson 5 made their U.S. Television debut on ABC-TV’s Hollywood Palace. While this may have been a young Michael Jackson’s first television performance, it certainly was not his last as he would go on to be one of the most influential and recognizable musicians and pop culture icons of all time. Who would future artists like Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars and Usher have been influenced by had Michael not taken the stage that day?
How about the fact that Lee Harvey Oswald was born on October 18, 1939. How would America’s history have changed had we skipped from October 17 to October 19 almost 80 years ago?
Now, despite what he may want you to believe, not every day is my son’s birthday so I will inevitably find myself just going through the motions again some day in the future but I would encourage you, when you find yourself in one of those days, to think about this exercise and step back to acknowledge the importance of each, individual day.
I kept my list pretty brief so there are certainly other important events that have taken place on October 18 throughout history that I didn’t mention, but hopefully my point is clear. Today is just as important as yesterday and tomorrow. There are things going on around us at this very moment that will make October 18, 2018 an historic day. As the great Muhammed Ali once said, “Don’t count the days, make the days count.”
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Thanks, J.
🙂
& just so you know, my friends, YOUR words are always welcomed …
smiledott@yahoo.com
