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Halfway there

Never before has the time of my birth mattered to me. My mother is here visiting me. I made sure to ask what time I was born so as of the moment I am writing this, I am still 39. At 11:26 am, I will reach the milestone of 40. I look at 40 as the All-Star Break of life. Halftime. I plan on being a 2nd half player. Time to reflect on the first half of my life. I seem to have turned out ok thanks to my parents. They did a pretty good job raising me to be a decent person. I was a fairly good student and athlete. I’ve had great friends come and go. I’ve had happiness and heartache. I have a wife and children I could only dream about. I’ve made some good choices and bad choices, but I think I made many more good ones and hopefully learned from the bad ones.

It’s amazing how quickly time goes by the older you get. It feels like I just got out of college but that was 19 years ago! Now that time is flying by, it’s time to stop procrastinating on many goals I’ve had. The hardest part is dealing with the rigors of aging. My hair is greying and thinning. I’m out of shape. My memory is nowhere near what it used to be. And I can tell reading glasses are just a few years away. I tire more easily which conflicts with a goal of trying to accomplish more. This is probably the biggest challenge. Now don’t get me wrong, this is not a mid-life crisis. I already had that when my brother died and I got divorced about 10 years ago. I can’t help but feeling that I have not lived up to my potential however. I’m not supposed to be just average.  I should be great.  Time to be more ambitious. Having children has helped. I need to lead by example so if I tell them they have to work hard at what they do, I can’t be a hypocrite.

I always felt that I need to have my Big Idea around 40. I’m not sure what it is yet. I have an idea which could be big, but I’m not quite sure it’s The Big One. But I’ve been setting today as the goal to start on the idea. I have to get a bit more disciplined and organized now. Probably set a daily schedule and stick with it.

Anyways, that’s all I have for now. Hope you all stick around to see how I turn out.

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This entry was written by Scott Allan and posted on July 18, 2008 and filed under family. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment(Latest is displayed first) or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

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7 Comments so far (Add 1 more)

  1. Oh honey, you are about to embark on the best part of your life. I’m 41 and feel like I have just now started living. Happy “early” birthday for it is still only 0940 here.

    And thanks for an original post. :-)
    c.a. Markss last blog post..Gmail

    1. c.a. Marks on July 18th, 2008 at 8:37 am

  2. Scott, if 40 is halfway there, for me it means that I have 4 plus years left, but that could change and my life on this globe we call earth would be over. Whatever happens, other than becoming dependent on others to care for me, I’m prepared to accept and I will leave the rest up to God. Years ago, just before having major surgery, I made the decision to not burden my survivors and friends with arranging and attending my funeral and I arranged to have my remains donated to UAB for medical research so that some young medical students could benefit from my death. I told my family members that if they want to have a party to celebrate not having to put up with me any longer or to celebrate whatever I had meant to them that was fine with me…… either way.
     
    Now, about having a “Big Idea”: My big idea didn’t come to me until 4 or 5 years ago. It was to do whatever I could to help change Alabama’s government and make it better for all future Alabamians. I developed two ideas, which I call my Project One and my Project Two. Both of them can be read about on my website @ http://www.doctoriq.com/rx.htm. I’m still working on the first one which is to help Alabama become the 25th Initiative and Referendum state so that we could proceed to working on the second one.
     
    My time here may end at any instant. From the day I started on my first project I’ve looked for someone to lead the parade and for someone to take my place and continue the work I started. If you chose to be my replacement I would be pleased to know that I have been replaced by a competent person has the ability to do better than I have, and I would be most appreciative to you.
     

    2. Don on July 18th, 2008 at 8:56 am

  3. Thanks for the wishes Carol,  I’m feeling quite optimisitic about what’s next.  Yeah I let down my guard a tiny little bit on this post.  I’ll try to keep my posts as original and interesting as I can if I can keep from embarassing myself.

    Don,  I’m hoping to push my halftime further into the future when I’m 50.  That’s a great idea donating your body to science.  I’m sure those med students will find some fascinating things!  I’m hoping I might be able to save someone’s life as an organ donor.   I really appreciate the offer to take over your work.  I’m not sure I have the time to take over your projects at the moment.  I devote almost all my free time to my kids and I’m hoping to start my semi-big idea now.  The kids are really my legacy right now so I want to make sure they get all the attention they need which seems to be a never-ending amount at the moment.  As I am somewhat new to the Alabama, I am not that familiar with Alabama politics yet.  I’m going to read over your site again carefully and perhaps I will become passionate about the issues over time as I learn more and the kids grow up.  I count on you to carry the torch a bit longer. 

    3. Scott Allan on July 18th, 2008 at 9:33 am

  4. Scott, I appreciate your remarks. You have your priorities in order when you put family first.
     
    If you have an interest in my first project, rather than just relying on my website for information about Initiative and Referendum, I would suggest that you also contact Representative Mike Ball from Madison, AL who authored the I&R constitutional amendment that has been introduced in the Alabama House of Representatives for the past several years. He knows far more about the issue than I could ever learn.
     
    Don’t keep me and your other readers in suspense. At least give us a clue as to what your “semi-big” idea may be.

    4. Don on July 18th, 2008 at 9:46 am

  5. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! old man–just kidding! Have a great one and relax!

    lindas last blog post.. ;)

    5. linda on July 18th, 2008 at 11:01 am

  6. Thanks Linda!  The semi-big idea is a software program I’ve been working on.  I’m still unclear about how big the market is for it.  I should know more in a few months.

    6. Scott Allan on July 18th, 2008 at 12:26 pm

  7. Hope I’m not too late for the party!  All the best Scott.  I well remember my 40th birthday, I wish I had set a lofty goal for myself at that time.  What I did instead is just wander around and am still wandering around at 53!
    You have your priorities in order as Don said so you can’t really go wrong.  Just as long as you keep on blogging, you do have a way with words!
    (Don, I am going to get back up to speed on I&R, I agree with you it’s so important.)
    Have a happy 40th birthday, Scott.  I think you’ll make a great 2nd half player!

    Julies last blog post..Nancy Pelosi, No class act

    7. Julie on July 18th, 2008 at 4:59 pm

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