Typically, many things are happening all at once. Baseball is fairly underway and I am launched into my seventh decade. Most of us have a few spiritual texts that give us consolation and direction at this time of our lives. I have used the works of Thich Nhat Hanh , Rumi, Meister Eckhart , the Bible, the Dalai Lama, Victor Frankl and others to find a working path and plan. Recently I’ve added The Baseball Dictionary compiled by Paul Dickson. Dickson’s work is full of life-explaining information and working metaphors.
Dickson has led me to the idea of the Morning Glory…the guy who shines only in the first half of the season and then fades after the All Star Break. I don’t want to be that guy.
I don’t want to be a bag puncher that was a success playing stoop ball in the early days and then quits when the challenge of aging comes along. I know a lot of high school heroes that peaked at eighteen and are now just hanging around, riding life’s pine. My fond hope is to stay in the game even if we go to extra innings.
I don’t want to be a citizen of Squeedunk, the place you enter when you find yourself at the bottom of the division-out of contention. So I scramble to find energy and remain relevant. The good news is that many of my contemporaries are doing the same thing. Loneliness -at least- is not a problem.
So…a big shout out to all of my Geezer teammates who are trying new things, hitting the gym, volunteering, starting a hobby and stealing bases. Cheers to those who still play the running game in the late innings.
Don’t be a Morning Glory. Strive for perennial status.
Olio Folio 