The Second Half

Okay. So Clint Eastwood weighed in on the "second half" during the Super Bowl last week. Great commentary, I thought. Inspiring. Encouraging. Good stuff. (And I personally did NOT think there was any subliminal, political message hidden in there.)

But that got me to thinking about our second half. Which we're in, I hope you realize. :) We 40 and 50-year-olders (and beyond) are pretty much beyond the halftime show, heading smack dab into the third and fourth quarters. But that's a good thing...if we want it to be.

My daughters, ages 20 and 23, are in the first half.  They're all fit and flawless and frolicking about as they find their way in life.  Such fun! Such possibilities! Such potential!

Me? Been there, done that. Time has been called on my first half. I've TiVo'd and played back my first half innumerable times. And sure, there are lots of parts that I'd love to replay. But that's not the way the game (aka life) works. We play each game, each quarter, each half only once.

All the good, the bad and the ugly has stuck with me, literally and figuratively, as I head into the third quarter. The good? (Glad you asked.) Ahhh, what a wonderful upbringing I had growing up in Porterville, California; raised by hard-working, loving, supportive parents. The bad? I've had my (un)fair share of bumps, bruises, lows, valleys and losses. The ugly? Duh. Take a gander at the cottage cheese stuck to my thighs and the big, fat, overweight crow's feet under my eyes.

But I am not throwing a pity party here. I suppose I've earned the right to have crepe paper eyes; and I'd like to think that fighting the cottage cheese keeps me in good cardiovascular health. :)

I mean, let's look at some people who are playing quite well in their second half. Madonna (of whom we may or may not be a huge fan) looked pretty darn good out there during the Super Bowl halftime show. My friend Darci, a new empty-nester, has taken up extreme biking, hiking and fly-fishing lessons "'cuz she can" now that her kids are gone. A friend of mine from the club, who is well into her fourth quarter, travels to distant parts of the world two (2!) times a year--  to scuba dive! My mother, who is in excruciating pain every second of every day (osteoporosis...argh), bought an iPad this summer. She is quite proficient, I'm proud to say. And she had never touched a computer before. Hats off to everyone who dares to go outside of their box, no matter their age or what their "new normal" is.

So you get what I'm sayin', don't you? We are in charge of the second half. It is up to us make the right plays and stay in the game and be competitive -- physically, spiritually, emotionally, relationally (is that a word?). It is true that, whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game that counts.

Here's to our second half!