Gerald Balzack was not terminally ill. He was not heading to prison and not filing for a divorce; there wasn’t anything wrong with him whatsoever. What he was, was a man in mid-life crises who felt like he was in a rut and a change was needed.
Balzack spent hours looking for answers wherever he could; he read magazines, searched the Internet and watched countless hours of Oprah looking for some kind of a spark only to find nothing. He thought because the world was in its technological stage and information about anything was just a click or two away that his problem would be solved easily and quickly…..he was mistaken.
Then one day while reading the USA Today he opened up to a full page add that was titled, “Live Everyday like it was your last!” It was like being struck by a bolt of lightning.
People who survive life threatening accidents, surgery or anything serious are always saying to live life to the fullest; treat each day like it was your last. This was it! This was the spark he was searching for!
But how do you do that? Balzack began to realize that it takes a total transformation of your mind-set. In order to live each day like it was your last you would have to convince your mind that this day really is your last. If you knew you were going to die tomorrow what would you do today? Balzack went to bed with a smile on his face as he realized that tomorrow was the first, last day of his life.
Balzack woke up and threw on his bathrobe. As he opened the front door to breath in the fresh morning air the paper boy approached him. Balzack smiled and reached out to receive the paper from the boy. Balzack rolled it up ever so carefully and then smacked the paperboy across the head while laughing hysterically! The paperboy stood in shock only to receive a back-handed smack across the face with the same newspaper. The paperboy turned and ran only to be chased down the front walk while Balzack was swinging the rolled up newspaper, still laughing.
He sat down on his front steps exhausted but was now confident that his new life decision was just what he needed. He carefully began to plan the next part of his day.
Unfortunately for him the paperboy’s father was a police officer and before he could do anything else he was arrested and taken down to the police station. Unable to make bail he sat in a cell until his hearing where he was sentenced to 4 years in prison for aggravated assault on a minor.
During his sentencing the judge told him, "Son...Today is not the last day of your life. Today is the first day of the rest of your life."
6 comments:
I don't think thats what they meant when they said live every day like it's your last. Though I would relish an opportunity to take a rolled up newspaper to some kids. Whack a Brat!
Rapists and murderers and crooked cops get less time than that
"Rapists and murderers and crooked cops get less time than that"
The paperboy's dad was a cop. Teaching a lesson to the sheep: don't mess with anything that belongs to your masters.
Rob - I had two versions of this story, but the first version was more of a feel-good story that I might expand on in the future. This version was much more "Brain Twinkey-ish".
Is this even for real? Google doesn't bring up any links for Gerald Balzack aside from this blog posting, and another that links to it. I mean, if this really happened, there would be a new story or something that would verify it, right?
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