Home
>
Success
>
A Stop On the Road of Life

A Stop On the Road of Life

With three kids, a business, a husband with a business, a house, a yard, and a very close extended family, my time is at a premium. This means I???m usually running as fast as I can to keep up with everything??"and sometimes failing miserably in that endeavor. Recently I was caught between two major obligations, driving from one to the other, and late again.

In my mind I was ticking off all that had to be done when I got home: make supper, give the kids a bath, help with homework, straighten the house, lay out clothes for the morning, pay the bills, reconcile the bank statements??? when suddenly the pickup in front of me put on his blinker and veered over to the empty lane beside us. I hit the brakes and then realized why he had stopped. A funeral procession.

Instantly although my first thought was, ???Oh, no! I don???t have time for this!??? I, too pulled to the side of the road, turned off my radio and stopped just as the policeman and the hearse passed. I looked beyond them to see how many cars with lights there were and realized I was going to be there for a while.

Turns out, I had no idea how long ???a while??? would be. Because the procession was actually coming around a corner up the road, I couldn???t actually see the whole thing, which could easily have been 200 cars or more. Nonetheless, as I sat there in silence, perspective began to fall around me. Here we on this side of the road were, living our lives, driving in the fast lane to get what we had to get done, seeming to have no time as it was, but when we needed to??"out of courtesy or obligation??"we stopped.

Life stopped so that we could all take a moment to recognize not only the grief of one family, but so that we could recognize that we, too, will one day be at the head of that funeral procession.

See, death and 24-hours, are the two great equalizers in this lifetime. We each have 24-hours to live our lives each day. You cannot buy more time. You cannot will more time. You cannot even strong-arm more time. You and the wino on the street have exactly the same amount of hours in ever day. The only difference is in how you choose to use that time. However, here is a sobering thought??"you and the greatest doctor on the earth also have the same number of hours in each day. He has used his brilliantly. How have you used yours?

Death is our other greatest equalizer. No matter who you are, where you are from, who you know, or how much money you have, one day you, too, will be laid out and leading that procession. The question is, how long will your procession be?

As I watched this person???s procession, it became clear how this person had chosen to use those 24-hours a day that God had granted. Well. Very, very well indeed. The cars just kept coming and kept coming, rounding that bend and lining up until there was a mile of them, and they were still coming.

For one moment that day I stopped on my harried trek through life to really consider where I???m going on this road we call life, what it all means, and whether or not I???m head in the direction that I want to end up. Truth is, it was well worth the stop.

Need more inspiration? Sign up for the monthly newsletter by Staci Stallings, the author of this article. Insights, quotes, inspiration and even a free novel by Staci sent two chapters at a time! To sign up, send a blank email to: newsletter@stacistallings.com You'll feel better for the experience!

professional cleaning service Morton Grove ...

In The News:

New research shows Americans increasingly trust AI for wellness guidance over social media, with 63% finding artificial intelligence reliable for health.

Luxury fashion brand Dior experienced a January 2025 data breach affecting customer personal information, and notifications were sent months after the discovery.

The commercial Unitree H1 humanoid robot weighs 104 pounds with 365 pound-feet torque per joint and demonstrates dangerous potential when software glitches occur.

Americans average 10-plus hours online daily, according to recent survey, splitting time between streaming shows on TV and browsing websites on multiple devices.

Boost your smartphone privacy instantly with these security tweaks for iPhone and Android that limit ad tracking, hide notifications and prevent unauthorized access.

Platforms like Hoax Tech and JS Click Cloaker help cybercriminals bypass detection systems using machine learning to selectively display scam content to victims.

A new battery recycling technique transforms old lithium-ion batteries into high-performance components that retain 88% capacity after 500 cycles with minimal waste.

Google's Android operating system can warn users about earthquakes before the shaking even begins – and there are ways to do it on your iPhone, too.

Meta's new gesture control wristband might just be the most seamless way to control a computer yet. And no, it doesn't require surgery, a camera, or even a touchscreen. All it needs is your wrist.

Long-haul trucks are now being upgraded with a surprising twist, thanks to California-based startup Revoy. Their electric boost doesn't replace diesel but works alongside it to cut emissions and fuel costs without major disruption.

PayPal and Venmo just rolled out something big: AI-powered scam alerts for Friends and Family payments.

As data centers multiply across the United States, energy demand is increasing at a rapid pace. This has not escaped the notice of large investment firms from Wall Street.

The Unicode Consortium, the nonprofit organization that maintains the Unicode Standard to ensure emojis work across devices, has announced Unicode 17.0, which includes nine new emojis slated for release this fall, in September 2025.

OpenAI is one of the world's leading AI research labs. Founded in 2015, it's behind some of today's most talked-about tools, including GPT, DALL·E, and ChatGPT.

Ever catch your dog staring at the screen during movie night and wonder if they're actually watching? Turns out, they might be. A new scientific study from Auburn University found that many dogs really do engage with television, and not all pups react the same way.

Stop the scammers from making contact in the first place. They're getting your parents' contact information and much more personal data besides, from somewhere.

The Walker S2 robot from UBTech autonomously exchanges its batteries in just three minutes, allowing continuous operation in car factories operated by BYD, Nio and Zeekr.

The FX Super One electric MPV from Faraday Future offers flexible seating, zero-gravity recliners and an AI system that creates a personal connection between driver and vehicle.

Practical solutions for reducing unwanted charity mail, political texts and email spam by opting out of shared lists, replying "STOP" and using data removal services.

Delta's new AI pricing system eliminates static airfares for personalized rates based on individual data, raising questions about fairness while promising optimized revenue.

AI data centers are straining the power grid across 13 states, contributing to a $9 billion increase in electricity costs, and PJM customers face monthly bill increases of $25 or more.

Artificial intelligence is transforming the music industry as AI-generated bands like The Velvet Sundown earn substantial streaming revenue, prompting lawsuits from major record labels.

Microsoft phishing scams use fake security alerts and links that redirect to credential-stealing pages with warning signs, including urgent language and unusual senders.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Tesla vehicles manufactured since mid-2021 with AMD Ryzen processors can now access Grok 4, xAI's witty conversational assistant designed to make drives more engaging.

A Stop On the Road of Life

Success