Sixty One Years On

It's funny how birthdays don't really phase me anymore.  Sixty one seems relatively unremarkable.  In fact, the last few months feels like a lifetime.  Nevertheless, that lifetime also has come with the recognition that a lot of "little things" haven't seemed to matter, including my birthday.  But that's not really right.  My birthday should matter, as should the little things in life that have fallen by the wayside.  I went for an 8 mile run this morning.  Granted, my thoughts went back and forth to COVID and life/work related stuff.  Still, I was able to be in a groove and the time passed relatively quickly.  That's what running should be all about.

Playing Batman and Robin with my grandson yesterday was fun, as was holding my granddaughter the day before.  I have another night with her again tonight (if we go according to schedule).  I'm fortunate to have my wife and daughter with me e very day, although i haven't been with them since early March.  It's time that changed.  It's time for me to have a schedule for "work" and dedicated time for my family.  It's been time for years.  While COVID has brought out the worst of my workaholic tendencies, it's shone a light on my strengths and talents.  I've been writing about the need to balance all of those and there's no time like my sixty-first birthday to do so.

Sixty One Years On.  Where was I at 51 years? I was six weeks removed from completing my first Ironman.  I was in the opening phase of selling my business to a publicly traded company.  I was 5 months away from a major work/life change.  I didn't have a son-in-law yet, nor two grandchildren.  I'm sure I had stresses, though sometimes it doesn't feel like those stresses are comparable to some of the stresses that I've had since.  Remarkable that 10 years ago today, I'd completed one Ironman, and had my eye on a second, and I was about to delve into what, at the time, was a very stressful phase of my life.  Sixty One Years On. What is it with stress.  Do I run towards it?  Do I not try to avoid it?  What's with it?  I know that I care about other people, but does that caring have to hurt so much?  I know that I'm passionate about what I believe in, but does that passion have to crank up the volume?

Twenty years ago, June 19th, 2000, I was five months away from a major life change,  i was going to be quitting my job (I didn't know it at the time) and going into business for myself (with one partner).  My weeks were still spent commuting to Florida.  The spring just before my before was spent traveling to Israel with my family.  I wasn't doing marathons or triathlons, though I was running.  It would be a few years before I got back into triathlons.  Work was about to take on a different flavor, having my own business and the stresses that went along with that.

Thirty years ago, June 19th, 1990.  I hadn't run my first mile straight yet.  I'd been full-time at Kaiser for almost a year.  I was swimming at the Jewish Community Center.  My daughter was soon to be three and my wife was pregnant with our second daughter.

June 19, 1980, I'd just graduated from UC Irvine and was about to start graduate school.  My future was uncertain.  I hadn't gotten into medical school and was trying to figure out what was next.

Well, here I am back to being 61 years on.  I wonder what things will be like in ten more years?