No one can predict at the beginning with absolute certainty when their playing career will be over. It is not until we get close to the end that we tend to think of the end. At that point thoughts are of the past. Triumphs, failures, hopes and regrets are all untouchable pictures in our minds.
No matter what we do in the present, we can’t get the past back and our future is seemingly short. We try to get every last bit of juice out of it. Practices are another chance to play. “Meaningless” games now have meaning because there aren’t too many left. The perspective of the aging player gives very real value to a commodity that is scarce, time. The problem is that we don’t realize how scarce it is until it is almost gone.
As you make your way through your playing career and your life, remember that the clock is ticking. You don’t know when it will be over, so take advantage of each moment. The only opportunities that you have are right now.
Michael Landon put it best- “Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows.”
Huryk Unlimited 