Find a Shoulder

I'm that person who has a list of life goals on a piece of paper in a special box in a certain drawer in my room. One of those goals is to be a published author. One is to find all the numbers from 1 to 999 on license plates in order. (This statement always confuses people, so here is how I can best describe it - I see a car that has a license plate H1Y 42G, for example. Well, on that I could find 1, 2, 4, 12, 14, 41, 21, 142, 412, 214, 241.... etc, depending on where I was in the game.)


At any point of any day, I could tell you what number I was on. And at some point I lost count of the years I had spent on it, but my best guess is between 7 and 10 years. Now, when you're 21, that's a commitment. Especially when most people look at you, stare for a moment, and try to find the nicest way to say, "Why in the world are you doing this?"

My dad wasn't one of those. Maybe it's because he was always driving, and he needed something to do. He'd help me look at the passing cars and point out my number if he found it. But he went beyond that.

Every summer weekend growing up my family made an hour and a half trip from Dallas to Lake Texoma, and at about a halfway point was the mile stretch of highway of all mile stretches. First, when on the way home, was the Dairy Queen. Ice cream for everyone! Second: three truck stops all next to each other. Now, Texas license plates aren't very nice. The vast majority have only two numbers. Very few had three. So my task was much more difficult once I got past 100.

But semi-truck license plates have lots of numbers, and they were my savior. So nearly every weekend, after we had our ice cream, my dad would drive around all three truck stops slowly enough for me to glance at each license plate. (Fun Fact: the license plates are different on the front and back of these trucks, which made the stop even more productive.) My mom and sister would roll their eyes, but my dad and I knew the invaluable help the truck stops gave to my project. In about the ten minutes it took to stop and drive around, I could usually get about 30 numbers nearer to my goal.

When I finally got to 999, I was in college and walking around with a friend. I jumped and screamed and maybe even clicked my heels out of excitement, while my friend - who knew about my goal - thought I'd lost my mind. And then I called my dad.

If not for my dad, I'd still be many numbers away from being able to cross that goal off of my life list. But more importantly, all the people who tried to convince me my goal was futile might have actually succeeded. He believed in me. He helped me. He was there, every time we were in a car, asking, "What number are you at now?"

My goal for being a published author someday, which might also be a goal of yours, is sure to take time, perseverance, and a whole lot of effort. But having someone who thinks it's worthwhile, and who believes I can do it, will be an invaluable resource.

So I guess I just want to say, whatever your goal is, whatever your dream - even one as crazy as license plates numbers - find a shoulder. One you can lean on, cry on, and use as a pushing off point when you're jumping for glee at that moment you can finally check it off your list.

Anyone have any crazy odd dreams and goals of their own? I want to hear!