Unlike Todd, I didn't ride a motorcycle past a telling sign in front of a church just after asking myself what to do.
Instead, I realize that 2008 is an extension of a journey I started those 10 hours in July spent on a floor and moved further along during the 23 days my foot spent above my head.
That painful day of helplessness led to a phone always within reach as I never wanted to be that stranded again.
As I started using my cellphone more and more I realized how inadequate it was. I'm so grateful that I broke down and bought an Iphone.
I'm grateful Apple realized how flawed the first one was and replaced it before I spent all those days in bed, unable to hold much comfortably as I kept my foot elevated.
The Iphone opened so many doors - an easier way to read the blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and so many other programs. It brought new people into my life, brought back some people and helped me relate to others in new ways.
A Twitter confession that Facebook, Twitter and the Internet could take a big chunk of every day brought advice to watch what I say from Knoxville.
Reviewing Facebook statuses helped me realize how out-of-kilter my priorities had gotten as I became envious of those attending concerts and finding time for family.
I am still amazed as I look back at the last months at how timely some Facebook/Twitter/Internet messages were.
The simple belief that I would be OK, the questions lobbied that uncovered patterns, emotions and skills that I missed, the willingness to share knowledge and play Scrabble late in the night and the openness of those who have gone through buyouts before sharing how they survived.
Chris Brogran says he's talking about blogging tips here:
If you can, contribute new thoughts, different takes, and mash-up ideas to the mix.
Take something you’ve read or heard or seen from two different perspectives and mash them into a new thought.
Share something from your life. Share what matters most to you, mixed with how it might be helpful and of interest to others. Put out crazy ideas. Put out heart-felt ideas.
Deliver from your heart and soul, and it will show through.
But I'm taking it as advice for what to do next as I finish up 29 years at the same newspaper and its online operation.
Those new patterns, paths and pieces, a complicated support system, has helped me realize what I have left to give, what I can do, and even what I should do with these todays.