The sun sets on another day…
Sunset was nice, amazing, and colorful in many ways. The sky let loose and we were all bathed in crimson memories and powerful hues.
For as long as I can remember, I have always loved sunsets. It wasn’t a rarity for me to stop at the side of the road and watch the sunset, even when I was running a little late. In about 2008, I was fiddling with the idea of a site to show off all of the sunset pictures I had taken. During that time, I was sharing a photo studio and doing very well in a fantastic company that believed in people, at least when I worked there.
It wasn’t long after I got the domain that I ran into some issues, and a few people I know ran into issues, some of them large, some permanent. Instead of just focusing on the sunsets and the idea of trying to see a sunset today, I realized there was a much larger message here. The message is almost simple, if today was your last day on earth, what would you do differently? Why aren’t you doing it now?
I struggled with this idea because if you think about it, it’s almost too simple. Then again, we are often pulled into small items but slowly take our life away. Hundreds of memes talk about life and jobs and getting the job done. There wasn’t really anything unique with this idea, so I went further.
I wrote a piece that made a lot of sense that simply said we need to stop whining about the past and pining about the future and instead define ourselves every day. It was a fun play on words, but it meant far more. Far too many people we’re so lost in their pasts that they could never find the positivity they need to make their lives better. By that same token, my father’s death showed me that planning for a perfect retirement and not spending time right now doing everything can be equally as damaging. We all know that story about someone who planned for retirement and right when it was a time were suddenly gone.
In 2015 I reset the site and started building it into a blog. For me, it was surprising the number of people that were interested. By 2015 this site actually had well over a million hits. As of now, it has over 3 million. I understand that’s not viral level because I don’t sit out and throw it on social media, advertise, or do something crazy that makes people watch for no apparent reason. Instead, since 2015 I have been writing every day with a message that encourages people to be alive.
I don’t know most of the people that stop by. Some days there are only a few dozen hits. Some days it’s a few thousand. I turned off comments a long time ago, as even with the best spam filters, you still have to monitor it all the time. My goal is simply to give people something to think about and to give my children something they can refer back to if I am someday gone. I put something together each day with no advertisements except maybe for my books occasionally and no frills. Sometimes what I put together is great, and sometimes it isn’t. In the end, that’s all dependent on you.
For you, as the casual reader, I would like to offer you a welcome. Each day as I interact with people all over the place, I come up with something fun to put here. Each day I try super hard to make sure that you’re entertained, and each day I try to lift people up, you included because you deserve it.
So as the sun sets on another day, join me on a fun little trip with a lot of other people. Join me in smiling, laughing, crying, and considering the world as a place where we should be doing something special each and every day to define ourselves as good people. Join me as we realize that good isn’t always what people think and bad isn’t always what people think either. Pass it on and have some fun, no matter what.
Sleep sweet, love life, and enjoy the day…