It was almost 20 years ago. I had my whole life figured out. I was still going to school and I was preparing for my future. I was so excited about the opportunities that were before me. What would I do with my life? Where would I be in 10 years? What about my family? Where would they all be and what would they be doing? How about my friends? What would my life be like with them? Would we all still be going fishing and camping together? Would we live in different areas of the world? Would I be rich? Would I own a ranch? Would I be a world traveler? I thought I would be making my living as a wild life conservation officer or something in the science field. I knew that I would be married with kids and live in a nice house. My friends, Family, and I, would all have our families together for outings, adventures, and backyard BBQ’s. My parent’s, grandparents, siblings, cousins, would all still be around for all of our traditional family events and activities. I had my future pretty well figured out and it was a good future. It’s kind of funny to look back now so many years later. Nothing that I thought and hoped my life would be happened. I barely see or hear from any of my old friends anymore except for on Facebook. My cousins live all over the continent and we never speak. I only have one grandparent left and now days everything is very different.
This year has been a year of tremendous growth and thought for me. I could be upset about the way my life went but I am not. Just because life didn’t go as I planned, doesn’t mean that I haven’t lived an amazing life. Every person that has been part of my life has had an impact on me and I take that part of him or her with me everywhere I go. I have boxes and albums full of pictures and memories of a life that I am very proud of. It is proof of a life that has been filled with so much in so little time. It is true that I have had to make many sacrifices to have the life I have had but it has been so well worth it. My profession as a singer is a purpose that picked me. I never thought I would be a singer or never wanted to be a singer, it just kind of happened.
This week I have had some problems with my teeth. I have spent several hours at the dentist and several days in a recliner with a swollen mouth with ice packs on my jaw. It has literally been pretty much anything that can go wrong, has. Last Sunday my temporary crown fell off and I almost choked on it. Even last night I was removing some of my own stitches in my mouth because they broke open and were driving me crazy. I have not been able to sing, eat or talk very well for several days. It made me think about how my life would be if I could not sing anymore. That thought sickens me to the very core. Something that I never planned on being, a singer, is now such an important part of my life that I can’t imagine life without it anymore. Just because life did not go as I had planned, does not mean that it isn’t the plan I was supposed to live. I know that I am doing exactly what I should be doing and I get validation of that every single day. I would not trade being a singer for anything. Yes there are a few things I may have done different knowing all I know now, but I am still very happy. Every day brings a new chance for new opportunities. I wonder where my life will be in 10 or 20 more years from now. I am blown away at how fast life passes by. Thank you for being my friends. I love having you in my life.
Thank you
Eric
P.S. I cleaned out my cd closest and still have about 30 of the Never Walk Alone Hymn CD’s. If you never got a copy of my inspirational Gospel Hymn CD you can still get a copy for a very short time longer.
Also we are getting low on our first run of our new shirts. You can still get some on our store as well. Here is a link for the shirts and cd’s.
https://ericdodge.com///products-page/
