Long Division

It may surprise you to know that when I first started college, I decided to major in pre-pharmacy. I didn't make that decision because I really wanted to be a pharmacist ... I made that decision because I knew I would make way more money as a pharmacist than I would as a writer or editor. I was able to convince my mind that was the right path for me to follow, but I was never able to convince my heart. My love for language and the written word eventually won out ... well ... kinda, sorta ... coming dangerously close to flunking every math and statistics class I took may have had more than a little teeny bit to do with me eventually admitting that pharmacy school was definitely not the place for me. I still remember the day I officially changed my major from pre-pharmacy to English and Spanish ... I remember feeling as though a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

Being stuck in my house for the last couple of days has made me more than a little stir-crazy  which is really weird since I spend most of my time away from work alone in my house. There's just a difference in knowing I can leave if I decide to and being trapped until the snow plows clear my streets. Which they finally did late today, so I'll be able to escape tomorrow and go to work. While I'm thankful for the technology that allowed me to work at home for the last two days and while my dog friends Julie and Ollie have done their best to keep me from feeling overwhelmingly lonely, I know myself well enough to know that it's time for me to have a bit of human contact.

One of the projects I worked on today contained a bunch of numbers and statistics I had to check for accuracy, and a couple of the calculations required that I add up a column of numbers and divide that answer by the answer I had gotten from another set of numbers. Because I don't trust myself when it comes to anything mathematical, even though I got the same answer that was on the document, the first time I completed the calculations, I added and divided those numbers three times just to be certain I hadn't made a mistake. As I finished up the project and emailed it back to the gal at work who had sent it to me, I was struck with a thought about division ... I was struck with a really important thought about division.

It's so very easy to let the little things in life become big things ... big things that divide and separate us into parts and pieces of what should be a whole. When we should remain as one, too often we divide, split and separate. Division can cause a ton of damage and wreak untold havoc ... in a marriage, in a family, in a church, in a workplace. When we allow ourselves to become divided ... well ... there's a reason the following words have been around for centuries ... a deep and meaningful and lasting reason. "Together we stand, divided we fall." Don't let the little things become big things ... look for the common denominator rather than the dividing factor. Throw the idea of division out the window, and stand together ... stand together beside one another and behind one another. Look for the good within the hearts of others, and let them see the good in yours. Life's short ... too short for long division, friends ... way too short for long division.