Without knowing it, an old high school friend just convinced me to turn over a new leaf.

I got the early urges when I heard Tim McGraw's 2004 hit song, "Live Like You Were Dying." The song was about a man facing a bleak medical future who decided not to spend his remaining time on Earth going through the motions.

The chorus said:

"I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,

I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.

And I loved deeper, and I spoke sweeter,

And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying.”

And he said: “Some day, I hope you get the chance,

To live like you were dyin'."

The action part sounded like fun. Then I checked the cost.

Skydiving? Hundreds of dollars. Mountain climbing was even more expensive. As for bull riding, the health insurance alone was staggering.

That dream faded fast but roared back in 2007 when Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman appeared in a film called The Bucket List.

Nicholson and Freeman played a pair of terminally ill men who decided to live it up before the living ended. They drew up a list of things they wanted to do before they "kicked the bucket."

Bankrolled by billionaire Nicholson, the two went skydiving (naturally), got some tattoos, climbed the Pyramids, drove a really, really fast car, ate at the world's finest restaurants, rode motorcycles on the Great Wall of China and went on an African safari.

Seeing the film brought back the urge for adventure. But after figuring the tab, I put my good-time dreams back on cruise control. All the fun stuff was definitely out of my price range.

Then I got a dose of inspiration from Jerry Henderson. We met at Goodwyn Jr. High School in Montgomery and graduated together from R.E. Lee High in the same town.

Jerry was a good-looking guy and a great football player. He had a ready smile and could always be counted on to get things done. Everybody liked Jerry — even geeks like me —because he treated everybody the same.

He was also a better-than- average saxophone player. That was the only thing we had in common.

Not long ago a few inches of snow fell on my Georgia hometown. The same storm buried Dallas — where Jerry now lives — under a foot of snow.

I groaned at the snow and struggled through it when I had to. Jerry ignored it and headed for work. He didn't arrive as soon as planned.

I hope he doesn't mind if I share this quote from his Facebook page:

"Jerry Henderson was late getting back to the office. While driving on Preston Road, I saw several people building a huge snow man. It looked like so much fun. I stopped and helped them. It took about an hour, but it was so much fun, playing in the snow, snowball fighting and building the snowman!"

Talk about grabbing life by the throat. Some people stop and smell the roses. Jerry Henderson stopped to build a snowman with a bunch of strangers.

When he wrote about it, he sounded like the happiest guy on Earth. And all that joy didn't cost a dime.

I'm not hoping for another winter storm anytime soon, but from now on I'll be looking for an opportunity to change my plans and take a minute (or several) to enjoy whatever unexpected blessings come my way. Even if they're covered in snow.

While I'm at it, I'll be sure to thank Jerry Henderson for reminding me the best things in life really are free.

(Send your e-mail comments to: alex@newnan.com)