Tag: Mid Life Celebration

42?

Who said, “A life is not important, except for the impact it has on other lives“?

Number 42 said it. Number 42? Yep.

With relatives from Pennsylvania staying with us for a few weeks, our routine is adjusted. The TV is on more often, playing programs we do not normally watch. The ABC Evening News is a great example.

Charlie Gibson started talking about baseball having 15 games played yesterday. So?! Well, he then starts telling the story about how every player on this one team was wearing the same number. Number 42.

Then, he says that everyone on the opposing team was wearing number 42. What the?

Not only that, but all 30 teams that played those 15 games yesterday, had the number 42 on every jersey.

Why?

Because it was that day in history when a HUGE barrier was broken.

It was the day when you no longer had to be white to play baseball.

It was the day Jackie Robinson, a black man, first played major league baseball, 62 years ago.

I don’t know about you, but I’m eternally grateful to any person who pushes the boundaries and finds a better way.

Jackie Robinson, number 42, did that. We should all stand up and cheer.

I challenge myself to do something today that will make the world a better place. Carpe diem, jeff noel 🙂

Mid Life Diversity?

Mid Life Diversity. What makes us different is what makes us special. Where I’ve worked the past 25 years, we place a HUGE value on our differences. It’s the fabric of our great organization.

So, I’d like to wish everyone a Happy Easter. To me, it’s the single greatest day in the history of man.

Knowing full well that many readers do not believe in Easter, I would now like to wish you great JOY in whatever, and however, you celebrate anything that’s important to you.

I hope you get this sentiment. I can not tell you what’s important in your life, any more than you can tell me what’s important in mine. And by the way, this is called acceptance. We all need and deserve this from each other.

However, may I please be so bold as to say, at mid-life, we are giving an awakening of sorts. And once again, this doesn’t happen to everyone, including some reading this now. That’s perfectly ok.

Some of us admit to this stage in our lives, and choose to embrace it, or deny it. Others, for a variety of unknown reasons, will be unaware of it’s presence. Yet I yield to common sense. We all have a mid-life. It just doesn’t always look the same in every person. Here’s what I mean.

Fact, we are all born and we will all die, and somewhere, there is a middle.

A close relative gave birth to a son. He lived ten precious days before he left Earth. Did he have a midlife? I’m not wise enough to say. By all usual and customary thinking, probably not.

A high-school friend during our senior year, died in a tragic car accident. Did he have a midlife? Maybe. Probably. But it wasn’t the sort of awakening that midlife can bless us with, in my opinion.

Still another friend, my age (49), went to bed one night and never woke up. Did he have a midlife? Probably. In his case, maybe the beginning of his midlife turned out to suddenly be the end of his entire life.

If you’re still reading, thank you for your gracious attention.

Whatever midlife is, and whether you believe it exists or not, there is one fact that is indisputable.

We get one human life to do whatever it is we are supposed to do. One chance. One!

Quiz time. Name one person in the history of mankind that hasn’t endured some form of Hell on Earth? Life is full of pain and suffering, disappointment, loss. It can also be filled with joy and blessings, success, gain.

Today, tomorrow, next week, next month, all year, next year, and until I die, I promise to try to make the world a better place.

This Mid Life Celebration blog is one small attempt to enlist others to do the same. We can, we will, if we all work together. Carpe diem, jeff 🙂

Getting Old?

Getting old isn’t a burden, it’s a huge responsibility. It’s also a gift.

It’s hard as heck to stay healthy. You’d never guess by looking at me, but I have to work incredibly hard to stay healthy. My very life literally depends on it.

For some, it’s “impossible”, because that’s the choice they’ve made, to believe it is impossible.

Christopher Reeves wrote several books, one entitled, “Nothing Is Impossible“.

In my work, I was blessed to spend time with him and his family.

I can’t help but wonder what he would have paid to do what you (most of us anyway) and I did this morning. Wake up. Throw the blankets aside. Stand up. Walk to the bathroom. Bend over and brush our teeth. Etc.

What would Christopher have paid to do that?

One million dollars?

Five million?

$50,000,000?

We got it for free? At least that’s what I think.

If you think you can, or you think you can not, you are right.

It’s all about choices. Tough choices. Life-altering choices. Easy choices and hard choices. At least that’s what I think.

Hope you get time soon to think about your choices. If you don’t decide, who will? If not now, when? The people who love you are watching. This scares the heck out of me. Carpe diem, jeff 🙂