Bird Droppings May 3, 2026
There may be side roads in life.

I wandered about a bit this morning, running errands and trying to catch up on a few things. As I went from one errand to the next, it seemed as if ideas were coming a bit too quickly; maybe I am operating on little sleep, my grandson used me for a pillow last night. Some of these ideas could be the focus of a weekend drop-off as I get into them. My droppings yesterday prompted a response from a friend who teaches gifted sixth- and seventh-graders and has also been a part-time college professor. I mentioned how professors of education should have taught first. I consider the doctor: Would you want a brand-new out-of-school doctor working on you with no experience? And yet in teaching, we see a new teacher as the same as an experienced one; both are expected to do essentially the same tasks and job. I started teaching as a sophomore in college. I was sidetracked for a bit along the way in my studies. You might say I took a few side roads, but in doing so, I became a much better teacher.

“We may pass violets looking for roses. We may pass contentment looking for victory.” Bern Williams

I was reminded recently, as we searched the area several springs ago for flowering plants, that the object was that the plant had to be flowering at the time of collection. This was my son’s botany project when he was in college. It was as interesting as we found plants that contained flowers far more beautiful than many commercial flowers, but tiny, literally microscopic, as we searched. As I look at the statement above, what exactly is Williams referring to? Is it the times we overlook something when we are so intent on a specific goal? So often in education, we only see the pass-or-fail score on the standardized test, not that the child made great strides in learning.

“You are not likely to get anywhere in particular if you don’t know where you want to go.” Percy H. Johnson

Sometimes, as we search and wander in life, there is still so much to see and learn; one goal will lead to another. But having a goal keeps us motivated to attain it. So many people do not even have a goal and stumble around, floundering.

“Set your goals high and don’t stop until you get there.” Bo Jackson

Just a reminder to Georgia football fans, there is always next year, and the possibility of a national championship, well, maybe the year after that.

“When we are motivated by goals that have deep meaning, by dreams that need completion, by pure love that needs expressing, then we truly live life.” Greg Anderson

“The person with a fixed goal, a clear picture of his desire, or an ideal always before him, causes it, through repetition, to be buried deeply in his subconscious mind and is thus enabled, thanks to its generative and sustaining power, to realize his goal in a minimum of time and with a minimum of physical effort. Just pursue the thought unceasingly. Step by step, you will achieve realization, for all your faculties and powers become directed to that end.” Claude M. Bristol

As often as I have experienced for myself, I recall several years ago on a Saturday, a good example, as I went out feeling some driving purpose to the day beyond rather than simply driving to Florence, South Carolina, nearly three hundred miles away, and not truly knowing what was on my mind and anticipating each moment and every contact as I went about the day. I had a goal to get my son an apartment and, hopefully, see as much of Florence as I could, and yet under that was a constant search for more meaning to the day. In my looking, I found so much; I completed my goal, and we looked at several apartments, but all were older and not quite what we hoped to find.

As we headed back to the property rental office to return the keys, I noticed a flyer on the counter for a new property. A quick question, and we were on our way to look at and eventually get that apartment. We were so focused at first on what we had been told and on our own goal of finding something on Saturday that we nearly missed the new apartments. Throughout the day, we each had so many encounters and pieces to our puzzles in life. It might have been locking the keys in the car, seeing my son’s chemical plant, seeing Florence and Lake City, where he will be working, and spending many hours together.

“There are those who travel and those who are going somewhere. They are different and yet they are the same. The success has this over his rivals: He knows where he is going.” Mark Caine

“We aim above the mark to hit the mark.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Recently, I read an article that was morbid in a way; it is also very true about goals and how so many people lead their lives. As we became more technologically advanced, many human skills gave way to technology. In Viet Nam, marksmanship gave way to weaponry that could fire numerous rounds per second, and kill ratios were one kill per thousand rounds of ammunition; marksmanship was lost. Recently, in an article on the National Sniper championships, snipers have been attaining kill ratios of 1.3 rounds per kill in theory; I do not think they use live targets in championships. While a morbid comparison, so true in our society that, rather than focusing, we scatter our dreams, our goals, and hope for the best, or that common word used far too often creeps in: “whatever”.

“Concentrate on finding your goal, then concentrate on reaching it.” Michael Friedman

“The goal you set must be challenging. At the same time, it should be realistic and attainable, not impossible to reach. It should be challenging enough to make you stretch, but not so far that you break.” Rick Hansen

I recall nearly twelve years ago distributing transcripts and new schedules for the upcoming semester. Some students were fine, and others complained, and as I planned, some will continue to complain even after the semester starts. I looked at attendance, and one student said no way, he had missed so many days. I explained that four teachers had the same information, and his response was “whatever”; they are still wrong. Then he began whining,  “How am I going to get into college?” I sat there looking at a transcript of a second-year ninth grader who was failing because of attendance, not due to ability, and being asked, “How was I going to get into college?”

I sat back and said, “First, simply passing as you strive to do will not get you into college. I knew this student would get a good SAT score, but that alone will not get them into college. A high school transcript of the seventies and failures doesn’t look so good. As we talked, I wrote on a piece of paper 70% and 100% and asked: “You go to find a doctor since you are talking of medical school, and you have in front of you two doctors, one learned 70%, and one learned 100%, who do you want as your doctor?” Guess who he picked? I hope his eyes were opened.

“You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things — to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.” Sir Edmund Hillary

A few years ago, Sir Edmund Hillary passed away, but last Saturday, in my crazy search for purpose, I was driving. It so happened that on Saturday morning, as I gazed east, there was a glorious sunrise. I was thinking about what it might have been like for Hillary to be standing atop Mt. Everest that first time, looking over a world, not just looking down Interstate 20. He attained the highest point on earth, yet considered himself a common chap.

“Goals are dreams with deadlines.” Diana Scharf Hunt

“Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work.” H. L. Hunt

“It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. It isn’t a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. It is not a disaster to be unable to capture your ideal, but it is a disaster to have no ideal to capture. It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for. Not failure, but low aim is a sin,” Benjamin E. Mayes.

Every day, I talk with students whose only goal is to be in this minute. Trying to guide them is difficult because in that self-centered world, there is no direction, no plan, and no pathway. I can show them a roadmap and point them in the right direction, but sooner or later, they will have to take the first step. All of us have been there and maybe again, so watch for travelers who need help and always offer a hand. Trying to get back up to speed and back into a routine after several days of being lazy, I still end today with please keep all in harm’s way on your mind and in your hearts, and always give thanks. namaste.

My family and friends, I do not say this lightly,
Mitakuye Oyasin
(We are all related)
docbird