I documented in my last column how I tripped over my dog and broke my hip. I won't go over the details again - it's embarrassing enough as is.

Pop singer Brandon Jenner: "Sometimes we let life guide us, and other times we take life by the horns. But one thing is for sure: No matter how organized we are, or how well we plan, we can always expect the unexpected."

I'm here today to talk about having a sense of purpose in our lives.

Confucius: "Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?"

I am not going to wade into the political intrigue and back-biting that permeates the nation today as the debate rages on President Donald Trump's declarations on travel bans and immigration - that's just not my thing.

Ah, retirement: The ability to do what you want, when you want and how you want.

There is something that worries me as I grow older and that's lapses in memory. Usually, I just pass it off as having one of those "senior moments" or trying to store too much information in too small of a space.

 Last week, I wrote about the wisdom and advantages of finding the time in our lives for solitude. Creating some space around us in order to rejuvenate the spirit and regroup our thoughts without the interference (or distraction) the everyday hustle and bustle provides.

I spend a lot of time in and surrounded by crowds. It’s something I enjoy – the camaraderie, the lightheart­ed conversation, personal interaction, etc. It’s part of the fun in being around a like-minded group.

I have intentionally stayed away from writing about the recent tornado that struck McMinn County and caused so much damage along the 10-mile Highway 307 cor­ridor from Athens to the Mt. Harmony community.

According to Wikipedia, a zombie is a fictional undead being created through reanimation of a human corpse. Zombies are commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore where a zombie is a dead body reanimated through various methods, most commonly magic.

I have to admit that I've lived most of my life in the fast-forward mode.

As I have detailed in a past column, I lost my youngest brother (Steve, or Poopy as we called him) a couple of years back to complications from the diabetes he battled the final 45 or so years of his life.

Fantasy is a wonderful thing and we all need it, at times, to escape - if only for a little while - the enormous responsibilities life heaps on us.

The word hate is a harsh description and often the use of dislike is more appropriate. After all, shouldn't we take a more kindly approach to those things or people that offend our sensibilities? As Rodney King said: "Can't we all we just get along?"

I pulled into the parking lot of a local funeral home for the third or fourth time in the past couple of weeks, 30 minutes before the scheduled hours of visitation.

This column is not usually about sports and today is no exception, but that doesn't prevent me from using sports as an example of what is also true in our everyday lives.

Former First Lady Rosalyn Carter: "There are only four kinds of people in the world. Those who have been caregivers. Those who are currently caregivers. Those who will be caregivers, and those who will need a caregiver."

Definition of stupidity: "Behavior that shows a lack of good sense or judgment."

You see it all the time - a soul sitting on the curb of a store parking lot with a sign that reads 'will work for food' or standing at the entrance ramp to the interstate with the same plea or trying to hitch a ride; rolling a grocery cart or pushing a bike down the road, baskets filled with…

Obscenity with overt sexual innuendos, profanity-laced dialogue, more gore than a livestock slaughter house and so eerily weird as to defy understanding is standard television fare these days, as well as becoming pervasive in social media.

Having heart is one of those intangibles that can't be measured with a yard stick, radar gun or volt meter, regardless of whether it's the emotional muscle that determines how much we care for another or steels our nerves in order to face the uncertainties life places before us.

I usually make an attempt to stay away from subjects that are polarizing in their effect and find issues that a majority of readers face in day-to-day life.

This column on today's subject will be short and to the point. I could recite rhetoric that supports both sides of the issue, but I am reducing it to the most basic of elements.

Some days are better than others and there are times when those days stretch into weeks or months and may have an effect on your life for years - if we allow it.

In the past few days, I was reminded once again how fortunate I am at this point in my life to have avoided one of the pitfalls that plagues so many people of our age - the feeling of loneliness or having no sense of purpose as friends and family pass from our lives.

Tennessee is known as the "Volunteer State" and McMinn County certainly embodies that spirit.

Let me start today by asking you a question. Where were you when the power went out?

The biggest problem I see with growing old gracefully is, quite frankly, the graceful part.

I'm having a real problem with the aging process. It doesn't seem fair. Now that I supposedly have the time to do all the things I have put off for so long, I no longer have the energy, patience or inclination to do so.

I have been reminded recently that, given the opportunity, children will be children - as it should be.

You know the old joke: "At my age, the first thing I check when the paper is delivered each day is the obituary column - just to make sure I'm not in there."

Life is complicated enough, but we humans seem bent on confusing the issue even more when the simple use of a common sense approach would smooth the way.

There are people who come into our community for a short time, then leave and very little thought is given to their whereabouts or future endeavors, a soft of, "I wonder whatever happened to old what's-his-name."

I wonder how many people live an existence where they use the opportunity offered to them to observe their surroundings and take into account how these observations affect their thinking, attitude or direction in life, as opposed to those with tunnel vision - oblivious to what is going on ar…

Tennessee Wesleyan has launched the TW Bulldog Plaza Brick campaign to honor Coach Dwain Farmer, offering contributors the opportunity to recognize students, former athletes, friends, loved ones, colleagues or a favorite organization by engraving their name on a brick that will be placed in …

Envy is a very divisive emotion. It tends to dominate our thoughts and energies, preventing us from accomplishing the very personal qualities, recognition or financial resources we covet from others in the first place.

There is a verse in Romans that says: "For by the grace given me I say every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you."

Fear often carries with it the label of being afraid or scared, but that is not necessarily the case - unless we allow it to be.

I was conducting an interview the other day and, as is the norm, the conversation strayed somewhat from the topic at hand. Good company, good conversation - go figure.

Driving into town the other day, I watched as a three-legged dog scrambled up a steep embankment, then hopped through a barbed wire fence at the top.

With the Christmas holiday upon us, I feel both lucky and grateful to be surrounded by family and friends - that has not always been the case.

I have to admit that I struggle to understand what society today associates with "celebrity" or "hero" status.

To forgive and forget are truly charitable traits and ones that some have no problem putting into practice, regardless the severity of the offense.

They say, "Curiosity killed the cat." Maybe so, but in that brief moment before his demise, he became wiser for it.

Disappointment in life, unfortunately, is inevitable and often comes upon without warning - like a bolt out of the blue that can leave us reeling with an initial feeling of helplessness.

Just for fun.

I was visiting with former McMinn County High School and current Tellico Plains football Coach John Mullinax at Sweetwater Hospital this past weekend when a comment he made struck a chord with me.

The Beach Boys' hit from the 1960s "Be True to Your School" says it best for me.

Sometimes, getting mad is not only the solution, but the best option.