The Start of the 4th Quarter

As of this writing, I am 57 and half years old. Considering modern day longevity, that I may live to 80 or beyond, there may be people who say that I am still a young man. However, a friend of the same age recently used a phrase taken from American football to describe where we both are in life: we are about to enter the 4th quarter of life.

I suppose this could be qualified as a tad depressing as if life is close to being over however my friend went on to say that we, my wife and I, would be wise to consider doing as much travelling as possible now rather than wait. Why? Health, of course. At the moment we are both fit, fit enough to travel, still able to deal with jet lag and hike up stairs, hills, possibly a mountain or two. If we wait, we run into the increasing risk that some health problem may crop up which may prevent us from travelling or restrict our travels.

In mulling over these words, I don't have to look very far to see their wisdom. My wife and I have both already seen a number of people had their life dramatically changed by some health issue. Without trying to be funny, I could add that sometimes the health issue in question has been death. Yes, both of us can already run over our list of people who have already died, a reminder to us all that we have no idea of when our number may be up.

Part of my reflecting on soon to be turning 58, on soon to be entering the 4th quarter of my life, is what probably all of us mere mortals think of when looking back: what have I accomplished? What have I accomplished in my life? Anything worthwhile? Anything which will last? I could reflect on that; I could rationalise; I could dwell on the failures; I could dwell on the successes. However, I was reminded the other day by a man who was 73 that "it ain't over til it's over."

This quote was made by Yogi Berra and refers to how the Mets were trailing so much during the division finals, that it looked like they would be unable to win. Nevertheless, the Mets did rally and went on to win the division title. Hence the idea of the quote referring to only at the very end of the event, does anybody actually know the outcome. The 73 year old I mentioned above was pointing out to this 57 year old that quite simply my life is certainly not over and who knows what else may happen between the age of 57 and death?

I have to chuckle. I reflect on this at the age of 57 thinking about people who are younger than me. I then run into somebody who is older and get a completely different perspective. Reminds me of that old saying “I cried because I had no shoes, then I met a man who had no feet.”

References

my blog: A hundred years from now it won't matter
http://wqebelle.blogspot.com/2010/09/hundred-years-from-now-it-wont-matter.html

my blog: 58 down, 23 to go
http://wqebelle.blogspot.com/2010/10/58-down-23-to-go.html

my blog: I met a man who had no  feet
http://wqebelle.blogspot.com/2010/06/i-met-man-who-had-no-feet.html

2010-06-08