But no matter what, before we know it, the “would of, could of, should of” season of life is upon us. Hopefully by then, we are much wiser and on top of our game. Hey, we had better be. Spoiler alert: it will most likely be the last quarter. Then the if I only knew then what I know now ghosts come to haunt us. If only I had done this or that instead of this or that, gone here or there instead of there or here, married him instead of her. What? You heard me. Or is it necessary that I speak louder for you, already? Just kidding.
When that time comes, we may no longer have the energy levels we once had taken for granted, or the sharpness of memory, we may find we have more time on our hands to sit and reflect, to ponder, to lament, to rejoice, to laugh, to cry.
Yes, everyone’s life has its ups and downs, wins and losses, moments of happiness and sorrow, but just like playing the stock market, it’s staying in it for the long haul that counts most. Because we all live with the hope that after all has been said and done, after the final tally has been made, the ups will have far outnumbered the downs, the highs outnumbered the lows, the positives outnumbered the negatives, the number on the scoreboard for the Home Team outnumbers that of …well…the Home Team. We have always simply been playing against ourselves.
And in that final moment, the last second of the fourth quarter, as the buzzer sounds, it won’t matter whether the game was played perfectly or could have been played better or differently. The only thing that will matter is that we gave it our all and played it to the very end. To that end, we are winners!