2001 Soap Box Archives
Observations
On The Big 6 - 5
October 28th I will be turning sixty-five years old. A lot of
clichés come to mind like, “where did the time go?”,”youth
is wasted on the young” or “time flies when you’re
having fun”. And they’d all have a certain amount
of validity. It does seem that the time has flown by and it
does seem that young people don’t appreciate the value
of time as they should. But all in all I approach my sixty fifth
birthday with pleasant memories and lots of plans for the future.
I’m still writing and performing music and having as much
fun at it as I ever have. I may very well have the best band
I’ve ever had and I take great pleasure mounting the stage
or going into the recording studio with them. I’m surrounded
by old friends who have worked with me for over a quarter of
a century . My wife is still the queen of my life and I love
her more and enjoy being with her more than I ever have in my
life. I have a wonderful relationship with my son and daughter-in-law
and get to spend a lot of time with them. Heck, my football
team even went to the Super Bowl a couple of years. I love my
employees, they love me and most importantly I have accepted
the salvation of Jesus Christ. So all in all I think I could
safely say that Charlie Daniels is not only a happy but a very
blessed man. When I reflect on my blessings they are enormous
. From time to time I’ll have people ask my what I would
change in my life if I could and while I can by no means say
that I have no regrets, I must say that I’m afraid if I
could reach back and change some part of my life that the domino
effect may come into play and things would be different on this
end. For instance if my wanderings had not taken me to Tulsa,
Oklahoma I wouldn’t have met Hazel and we would not have
had Little Charlie. Or if I hadn’t taken a chance and moved
to Nashville in 1967 with twenty dollars and the clutch out
of our car there’s no telling where that would have led.
The passage of time is my main concern. It makes me want to
slow down each day, enjoy each minute and make everything count
for something. I have no desire to spend time arguing, fussing
or spending time with people who are inclined to do so. I have
no use for gossip. Those who carry tales should find something
better to do with their time. Their efforts never help anybody
and causes harm which can last for a lifetime. I don’t
believe in holding grudges. I’d just rather forgive somebody
and get on with the happy part of life. If I had my way there
would never be any more dissension in the world. I view it as
a waste of time. When people have disagreements if they’ll
sit down and talk things out, if they’ll both be reasonable
they can work out almost anything. Life is too precious to be
squandered on bad feelings toward other people. There is healing
in forgiveness, there is comfort in reconciliation, there is
peace in harmony. There are no bad days. Of course, some are
better than others but each one is a precious possession, a
unit of time, a gift from God to be lived in whatever way we
choose. When all is said and done we can not blame the circumstances
of our lives on any other person than the one you see in the
mirror each morning. From where I stand my advice to all would
be that if you’re not happy with your life, do something
about it. After all, nobody else can.
What
do you think?
God
Bless America
Charlie Daniels
