4th quarter

 I was born on December 30, 1946. 

The way that I figure it, I'm in the fourth quarter of my life. Next year I'll be 75. If I was to live to be 100, then next year on my birthday I'd be at the beginning of my 4th quarter. 

I don't want to live to be 100. So, I like to think that I'm already in the 4th quarter of my life. What I don't know is where am I in the 4th quarter? at the two-minute warning? OK. at the beginning of the 4th quarter? if so, then I'll be in my late 90s when I die.

I don't want to live until my late 90s. why? Look around. the world is a mess. the USA is a mess. religion is a mess. government is a mess. media is a mess. people are a mess. I'm a mess.

besides, I've had a good life. good parents. good schools. married to the same woman for 54 years. children. grandchildren. these are all good things.

but, along with the good times, I've messed up plenty. while I've never been convicted of or charged with a crime, I've had my share of failures. relationships. poor choices. frustration. anger. 

then, there's just getting old. it's humbling. my body and mind don't work as well as they used to. 

how long does it take to build a profile of one's life?

in school it doesn't take long. there are gifted students and poor students and everywhere in between. I established myself as an ordinary student in grade school and it was pretty much the same all through school. 

work is similar. there are good workers and not-so-good workers and a whole lot of workers in between. I did well at some things and not-so-well at others. 

life is similar. when I look back, I see a lot of things that I could have done better--and a bunch of downright failures. I figure that my profile is pretty much complete. what's the point of going into overtime?