North of 55 - Winning With Age

Having a passion is key to a successful "fourth quarter". What do I mean by "fourth quarter"? We never know how long we will live, but the following statistic for the US gives me pause and makes me think: According to recent data from the CDC, l ife expectancy in the US is 76.4 years. What?? Is that it?! After working until 65 years of age, this is all I can expect?  In my personal case, based on the longevity of my parents and grandparents, I would think 85 to 90 years would be a reasonable expectation    IF  I inherited good genes from my parents . Since I am in my 60's, then with some luck I might have 20 more years, which is that " quarter" that I refer to. But what if I don't have those good genes? What if I only reach the average life span of 76 years? That means I am well into my personal last quarter. While I might hope to be able to go into "overtime" like a great football team, I can't expect that. So, after having worked th

“Best laid plans”, right?  In 1785, Robert Burns wrote “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go astray”. How often do we make a plan, follow up with a real commitment, then let life get in the way? I imagine we all have experienced this. The most frequently cited example of this is our failed New Year’s resolutions. According to US News and World Report, there is an estimated failure rate of 80% of people to keep their New Year’s resolutions by February, and only 8% of people stick with them the entire year.   A relevant example for me is this blog. I started it in 2020 with the full intention of adding new entries at least a few times a week, and then I got a new job, as mentioned in a previous post. I let this new job get in the way because it led to 50+ hours of work a week… add this to my life at the time, and I let blogging take a back seat.   So here we go again. Time to revitalize, take a hard look at what I am doing and reset the course for the “fourth quarter” as I n