A Word In Your Ear

Like some of you, perhaps, I used to wish I had been born 10 years earlier, so I could have been part of the music scene I just missed, the rise of all my favorites: Elvis, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Ricky Nelson. But now, with the fantastic audio technology we have today, I'm happier than ever to be alive. The irony is that I rarely listen to music anymore.

I have 40 or so audio books, 28 of which are in my iTunes library. I have apps on my iPhone that link me into many, many more - hundreds of titles, most for no charge. I can easily move from "A Christmas Carol" to "Anne of Green Gables" to "As a Man Thinketh" to "The Psychology of Achievement" to Ben Stein's "How To Ruin Your Life."

I listen to them all the time when I'm alone: when I shave and shower, when I iron my shirts, when I clean the kitchen, when I drive by myself. Every day I have those delightful moments of inspiration and motivation and education, when the best thought of others stick in my head and make me a better teacher, a better husband, a better man - all while doing other things.

A wonderful lecture on rhetoric is currently topping my playlist on the iPhone, and I'm 11 discs into a Michael Crichton novel in the car. I bought a used, 18-disc copy of "All the King's Men" for $4 at a flea market this week, and our Audible.com credits just restocked. Kelly recently finished up "Water for Elephants" and has started "The Help" on her phone.

Maybe I did miss out on being nothing but a hound dog hanging out at the soda shoppe with Little Susie after school, but I sure enjoy the immediacy and convenience of audiobooks. As Jim Rohn says, miss a meal if you have to, but don't miss a book.

I couldn't have said it better myself.