2018.
Well, it sure wasn’t boring.
As most of you know, I like to close the MileNerd year with some of the thoughts that are kicking around in my brain. Usually, it’s pretty easy to do…
This year is a little different.
There’s just so much to say. For many reasons. And with no possibility of wrapping it up in a one-post bow, I’ll just stick to a single topic to close out 2018…
Do you ever observe old people? I mean REALLY observe them?
I ask because it’s one of my biggest passions.
Usually, I look into those eyes and see the pain of a lifetime. The cumulative beatdown of a journey that didn’t go according to plan. It’s something I know all too well. The defining moment of my dad’s life was a major tragedy that rocked his world. He never asked for it. He never signed up for it. But that uppercut to his heart was delivered with such force that he still feels the ripple effects 70 years later. Sure, he lived a life, had a family, and built a career…but he could never really leave that moment.
And then sometimes I observe a different type of old person…
You look into their eyes and see a childlike twinkle. The kind of person who…through a combination of courage, effort, and luck…was able to reach their finish line with a sense of wonder. Things, places, and people still fill them with excitement. After all those years. You can hear it in their words. You can see it in their eyes.
Do we really understand the extent of how special they are?
Without them in the world, our lives would be unbearably frightening. We’d have zero evidence that we could come out of this as anything but miserable. But those people do exist. They shine a bright light at the end of the tunnel that gives us hope. A reason for optimism. We know it’s possible. Because of them.
They’re also lucky as hell.
Why do we fight that word? Luck. You don’t have to squint your eyes to see it…just turn on your television. The fatal car crash because someone sent a text message while driving… the regular shootings that kill people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time…the countless devastating diseases that just show up on a random, nondescript day. There are things that could happen to you in this moment that would completely change the course of your life. Things out of your control. The person you love more than anything in the world? That person could be taken from you tonight in the most traumatic way imaginable. I’m not saying it to be morbid. I’m saying it because…if that hasn’t happened to you…it means luck has been a huge factor in your life.
And that’s what I wish for you this holiday season.
To have luck in your life…huge amounts of luck…
To know it.
And to hopefully do something with it.
The world could sure use more of “those” old people.
I truly hope you become one of them.
(As usual, I’ll be taking the last 2 weeks of the year off. Final posts starting January 1st. See you then. Happy holidays, nerds!)
