The first half of 2025 brought a series of challenges that would put anyone on the bench.
I have been putting myself back in the game trying to get acclimated to the world after being focused on caregiving. That particular focus (caregiving) has a singularity as a job that does not lend itself to multiple achievements. You have one person to take care of, one person to meet a particular set of needs, and one person to provide feedback. If you allow me the latitude of expanding the game analogy, the caregiving playbook is full of repetition and simplicity. After years of running the same play, I emerge bruised and battered without the comfort of singular goals. The game has become ever evolving with highly complex plays and defenses that are hard to read. My need for reinvention comes on the heels of a dreaded inevitability.
But while listening to music Tuesday, I had an epiphany. I should be excited about new goals, new plays, new defenses, new offenses and trick plays. All of those render a much more interesting game and thus an interesting life. Old age is when you decide that running the same play is all you want to do. I know that this is crazy based on what many people would see as a losing record but I am excited about getting back to the game. From my perspective I have not had a series of losses, far from it. My wins are quietly racked up from goals that are not always counted by the people watching the game. These wins come from the other players that expected me to block, pass, run and kick when needed. Those plays are not always on ESPN.
So from that perspective, I guess it is time to get off the bench and start running some new plays with new goals. The world is extremely complex with the proverbial goalposts getting moved weekly. My new playbook that can only be learned by losing someone you love is going to take longer to learn than I anticipated. Complexity is what makes life interesting. So let me get my helmet on and get ready to play.
Albert R. Hartley