Getting Older Sucks (at times)… but Still So Much to Share
I love coaching my kids’ teams. First, I get to spend time with my children. Secondly, there is an amazing rush of energy when you're in a room/gym/on the field full of young people. Thirdly, I'm competitive and like to win. Not at the expense of a good experience for the kids, having fun, learning, etc. You can take the boy from athletic pursuits, but you can't take the desire to win from the person that's no longer a boy.
With that said, coaching is just not as easy.
I first coached a team when I was in college. A friend of mine was volunteering at the local YMCA and they were a coach short for a girls’ basketball team. I'm not sure he even asked, but I was soon coaching the team and fell in love with it. Before going to law school, I coached multiple teams at a local smaller Catholic high school, and view that time as one of the great joys in my life---even though I was running practice with one team at 6 a.m. and coming back after classes at the university in the afternoon and evening for one or two more practices. Every single day. Plus two to three games per week in the evenings/weekends.
Now it's my kids’ teams. Basketball, soccer, baseball, even robotics. But physically it's harder.
In coaching both my kids’ basketball teams this winter, I have positioned practice so that I have our 8-year-old daughters practice for the first hour on a Thursday, followed immediately by another hour with my 5th grade 11-year-old son's team. And by the end of the two hours, I hurt. My legs, feet, knees, etc. Five years ago, that wasn't as true. 10 years ago, it didn't exist as an issue.
The same can be said about when I present and teach. I remember early on in my consulting career that I would teach a gift officer training for eight hours straight on my feet. While there was an hour for lunch, I did almost all the teaching. And while tired, it was fine. Recently I did two 2.5-hour sessions with an hour and a half break in between and I wondered if my legs would make it through the last 30 minutes.
And when I travel now, I need time to make sure I sleep and have some normal rest. I remember many, many trips where I would wake at 4 a.m., on a plane at 6 a.m., arrive to get to the client by 8/9 a.m., work all day, back to the airport by 7 p.m., fly home, and be back in my house after midnight----a 20-hour day. And then, get up the next morning to take the kid(s) to school and me to the office by 9 a.m. Not any more…
Getting old sucks…
You spend a lifetime building, hopefully, some wisdom. Opportunity to share that and make someone else's life, both personally and professionally, better, is joyous to me. But it's harder with the physical limitations. Everyday tasks that used to be effortless, like running lifting or even bending without any discomfort, become more normalized, leading to some frustration. Choices of hobbies and activities that once brought me more joy may not be as interesting as they once were. It also makes you realize that you may be closer to the end of your life than you are the beginning. I don't think I'm going anywhere in the short term, but when your legs hurt after two hours of running with a bunch of eight-year-olds and 11-year-olds, you know things aren't working the same as they used to… or at all.
I'm not giving up. I could be in better shape. I could do things to better prepare my body for the challenges. And I'm more committed to that than I ever was. No matter how much I adjust my routines, diets, and exercise, life's a little bit harder when you get older. Makes me realize how blessed I am that I did so much when I could. But also, how much I have to share and need to challenge myself to find better ways of continuing to helping others where/when I can…
