What's Next?

Hey, Another Guest Columnist (or as I like to call it a couple more days for me to be lazy. :-))

Presenting, once again, Dean Schmitz:

Well, beat the drum and hold the phone - the sun came out today!
We’re born again, there’s new grass on the field.
A-roundin’ third, and headed for home, it’s a brown-eyed handsome man;
Anyone can understand the way I feel.

Chorus:
Oh, put me in, coach - I’m ready to play today;
Put me in, coach - I’m ready to play today;
Look at me, I can be centerfield.

Well, I spent some time in the mudville nine, watchin’ it from the bench;
You know I took some lumps when the mighty casey struck out.
So say hey willie, tell ty cobb and joe dimaggio;
Don’t say "it ain’t so", you know the time is now.
Got a beat-up glove, a homemade bat, and brand-new pair of shoes;
You know I think it’s time to give this game a ride.
Just to hit the ball and touch ’em all - a moment in the sun;
(pop) it’s gone and you can tell that one goodbye!”

-– John Fogerty, "Centerfield", Centerfield (1985)

As I started putting together an entry as a guest writer for Tom’s blog, I planned on using the theme of baseball. I am a big baseball fan, always have been (even though the owners and players drive me crazy with all their stupid politicking) – the game of baseball is a beautiful thing. My entry was going to be a ‘baseball is a metaphor for life’ type article. It has been written many times before and I was thinking I would take my shot at it.

However, as I was reading another friend’s blog, entitled “What’s Next?” it got me thinking. Justina was writing about being an old married lady and not staying up past 10:30pm. She isn’t sure that her current life is exciting enough for a blog. It may be a calm recovery time that she is experiencing until the next phase of life kicks her into a higher gear. Additionally, the name of her blog may be reflective of her hoping to explore the answers to “What’s Next?”.

Obviously, I don’t have the answers for my friend. I, however, do have some answers for myself, or at least as much as anyone has answers. LIFE is next. Every single moment of it, no matter how exciting or ordinary. While I have a similar life to what my friend is describing (I rarely make the 10 o’clock news, let alone Letterman anymore), and it may not be very exciting to a lot of people, it is life to me and very important to enjoy. Obviously it is good to plan for the future and reflect on the past to learn lessons for the future. But to me, it is so important to live for right now and enjoy it. Whether that means you are climbing a mountain or enjoying pizza on your back porch with family, enjoy the now.