Sore Loser

So as one gets older, he/she must come to grips with the fact that some of your physical capabilities will decline. Oedipus answered the Sphinx’s riddle; “what has 4 legs in the morning, 2 at noon, and 3 at night?” The answer is human beings and the 3 legs refer to us at an older age walking with a cane. I am not to far from that now it seems.

I am out of shape. It is not too bad, but bad enough were I know I am losing some of my physical attributes before their time. As I sit and watch sporting events I see guys I played against in college at the top of the physical capabilities. I have always wondered what it would be like to switch places with them. Every time I watch a former Kansas Jayhawk in the NBA I know that I could be better off physically than I am now. In the Oedipus clock, I am way to close to sundown than I should be at my age!!

I played flag football yesterday. It was just a pick up game with some friends. It had been a couple years since I had played football competitively against guys my own age so I was ready for the challenge. I even broke out my old drum major cleats, which are pro style footwear for grass. I was ready to play. Unfortunately, my body was not. I found out very quickly that if you do not use it, you will truly lose it, and then embarrass yourself over and over again trying to regain it!! I caught the first couple of passes thrown my way and sprinted into the end zone for a score. That would be the only highlight of the day for me. As I was continuing to play, my body was not responding in the way I was used to, this caused me to not only get burnt on plays, but on others were I thought I could make the catch, I just looked foolish!! Oh how the mighty have fallen. My confident swagger walking onto the playing field was quickly replaced gimpy hobble off. I was defeated both physically and game wise. My two dropped passes and other blunders became the recurring joke for the remainder of the night and on to today.

As I sit in bed today, extremely sore in places I did not know I have, I realize that complaining about it is not going to make the hands of time go back to noon. I must be a man of action and create a time machine for my body. I refuse to one, be embarrassed again, and two, let the hands time take away the best years of my life. AS my body slowly recovers this week, I will begin my metamorphosis back to the O King of old, before I get to old!!