In my case, it was the flashing lights behind me as I drove down I-25, headed to airport last week.

After the officer sent we on my way again, I was much more in tune with my speedometer. I was amazed though that I couldn't keep up with traffic in the right lane and stay within the speed-limit. Why is that?

We don't even realize how fast we are going. Our hurry becomes automatic. We don't see it as a hurry anymore. Instead its a more productive rate. Laws and standards tell us we should not go at such a fast pace, but they get lost in our rearview mirrors.

In life, those warnings come in all forms. Maybe it's an unexpected death of a friend or family member, maybe its a warm summer day where you have nothing to do but bask in the sun, and maybe it's that dreaded State Patrolman.

The point though, is every so often we have to remember to breath, to not worry about missing something on our to do list and take off our watch.

According to the International Labor Organization, 80% of American men and 62% of American women work “excessive work hours,” that is, over 40 hours per week. And that was back in 1999. That tells me we need to relax a bit.

As Ferris Bueller says, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once and a while, you could miss it."
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"Am I ever going to use this?"

And more times than not it is followed by a resounding “No”. Then we become wiser with age.

Of course there is probably a high percentage of information you learn along the way and never revisit again in your lifetime. Math was never a favorite subject of mine. As soon as I finished the last of my math courses, I tucked all that math knowledge away. And for the most part, I don't typically bring it back out, but maybe I should.

This last week, while I was busy writing the winter sports stories for this week's issue, I was blind-sided by a math problem. I needed to calculate percentages, which I probably haven’t done since I learned how to do them. Surprisingly though that math suitcase of mine swung open from the back of my mind.

Throughout the day, I stumbled into several other math problems and tackled them with ease. I guess I paid more attention in those math classes than I thought. I also guess our minds are capable of much more than we give them credit for.
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Later, I realized just how often this happens in life. We lose contact with the friends we surrounded ourselves with in high school and college.

Priorities change and our time is spent with new people. Christmas cards replace daily conversations.

Sometimes we are fortunate to hit the redial button. Other times it seems the line has been permanently disconnected, whether by choice or pure accident.

It's a fact of life that people come and go. Faces from the past may appear in front of you in the grocery line or at the table next to you at your favorite restaurant. On the other hand, they may not.

Those chance reconnections are welcomed surprises, but are never guaranteed.

Somehow though, that needed phone call slips through our fingers and the email never gets sent.

A few days later, I sent an email to one of the many lost connections in my life. Maybe I'll hear back and maybe I won't, but at least I will know I did something.

I realized, the phone really wasn't that heavy and that email took but a few minutes. And I could do it again, only sooner.

I am reminded of the lyrics to a children's song: "Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver the other is gold."

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