[JRutledge]

Officiating for me is a "get away." Especially when I am talking about basketball officiating. There is so much to do and so much to get right; I do not have time to think about other things.

The best example I can give is I had an aunt that had Brest Cancer. I went to see her in November for about a week and saw how bad she was and it was clear she was dying. I came back and worked a high schools scrimmage (by myself at that) and it totally took my mind off the personal events for just a few hours.

Later the next year she died on June 30. There was a period where I hardly worked anything. When the football season started, it was the best thing for me.

Now maybe this is because of my lifestyle, I do not get outside things get in the way. I love being on the court and field and my personal life is non-existent for a few hours. And it helps me keep some things in perspective. What we are doing is not life or death and it is just fun for the most part. Maybe that will change as other things in my life become more important, but right now I do not allow anything else to distract me for that short period of time. I look forward to my time officiating so I can "get away" from all my other problems.

And since you are a person of God and I have been striving to be more spiritual, I have learned more and more to trust in God and not worry about those things I cannot control either. I am still a work in progress, but I try to keep things in my life from interfering with other things as much as possible.

I do not know if what I said helps, but that is what I do.

Peace