fitover50

When I was a child and people would ask me what I wanted to do or to be when I grew up, one of my common answers was to say, “I want to invent something.” I didn’t have any idea what I wanted to invent then. I don’t have any idea what I want to invent now. But I still want to invent something.

The reason for this goal, I have since come to realize, is that I want to leave something behind on this earth after I leave it behind me for whatever may exist beyond my time here. The need to be important in the world exists for most of us, I’m sure. After 50, the need may become an obsession as we realize we are not immortal. There is a time limit to this whole wild, crazy experience we call life. And, to coin a common cliche, “It’s later than you think.”

I spend a lot of time chasing myself around in circles trying to leave that mark on the world. I don’t think I’ve done anything, up to this point in time, that is particularly note-worthy. Beyond a few friends and family members, I can’t imagine who will remember me at all a few years after I’m gone.

I am disturbed by this. I don’t know what to do about it, if anything. I try to do the best I can at my job, in my home, in my marriage and in the world in general. Sure, I’m a good person, whatever that means. But, I’m quite sure there has been nothing up to this day that will earn me a place in the history books, in my community or even as a byline on a blog.

As the new year begins, I find the urge to “Make my Mark” to be greater in me than ever. Have you made your mark yet? Do you think you ever will? Do you have any idea what making your mark might entail? I would love to hear your answer to any of those questions.

We seem to be settling into winter here in the Northeastern quadrant of the United States a little early this year. That’s not all bad. One of the advantages of this time of year is that I will have more time to pursue one of my big goals in terms of things I want to accomplish before I die.

This time, my goal is to further my pursuit of reading some of the great classics novels of literature. Relative to most of my friends and acquaintances, I am fairly well read. But there are still some truly great works I would like to claim as part of my reading list. I’m trying to find a totally different genre to dip into this time. I have read a large selection of great American and English authors: Faulkner, Hemingway, Twain, etc. I have read a great deal of the classic French authors as well: Voltaire, Camus, Hugo, Balzac, Simenon, etc.

I want to strike out in another direction this year. I’m open to suggestions. Drop an e-mail with your suggestions of classic writers that have inspired you and given you new eyes with which to view the world.

I’ve seen a bit of the world. I’ve been to Spain, France, Italy and Croatia. I been to the Carribbean and many locations in the continential United States. I’ve seen a bit of Canada.

It’s not enough. I must see more of the world before I leave it. Top locations on my personal itinerary:

Paris - I must sip wine by the River Seine.
Vienna - Birth place to so many classical musicians.
Southeast Asia - I urge to see that culture is strong.
Egypt - For the pyramids.

There are more. . .

Once we pass the ripe old age of 50, things change. I’m not talking about the shift in muscle mass, the gray or white strands in our hair (or the total lack of hair), the presbyopia that attacks our vision or the way certain foods affect us like they never did before.

No, I’m talking about changes in the way we see things. In the way we dream dreams. In the way we anticipate what lies ahead in life.

By this time in life, many (most?) of us have faced some close calls with our health or our lives in general, or we have had people close to us face these close calls. We know for a fact, no room for doubt, that we are not immortal. At twenty-two we might have felt like there was an infinite amount of time before us. Now we know better.

This general way of thinking falls in line with the Tim McGraw song, Live Like You Were Dying. If you know you have a finite amount of time left to live, it’s important to get on with the business of living. Do what you want to do. See the parts of the world you want to see. Create what is in you to create. Before it’s too late.

Like Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman in The Bucket List, we need our own list of things to do before we die.

Drop and e-mail and help us start our own list here at Fit Over 50. I will start the list on this site today.