60 years of somedays
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Yesterday morning I went to the doctor for my annual physical. My doctor checked my blood pressure and pulse oxygenation, listened to my heart, and hit my knees with that little rubber hammer (I’m 90% sure this has no medical purpose aside from the doctor’s sadistic enjoyment, but I digress). When I left, I called my wife to see how her morning was going, and we had a conversation we’ve been having for almost 18 years now. Every time I go to the doctor, she asks “What did the doctor say?” When we first got married, I was 22. I’d say, “Bad news. Doc says I only have 78 years to live.” But the older I get, the less funny the joke gets. I just turned 40, so when my wife asked the question yesterday, I said “Bad news, babe. He says I only have 60 years to live.” When I said it out loud, part of me thought “Oh, man. That number is getting a lot closer to my age.” In ten years, they’ll be the same number. Then it’s all downhill from there. All of this, of course, assumes that I will live to 100, which is of course not guaranteed. Over the years, I’ve had a lot of people ask why I do the things I do: Why I make cardboard Viking ships and host fake marathons, why I write books and make art, and why I try to get other people to bring their own ideas to life. Sometimes I give a trite answer, something like “It just seemed like a good idea at the time!” But if I’m feeling a little honest, a little vulnerable, I’ll tell the truth: I do this stuff because I’m going to die someday. We don’t like to think about this, so we push it to the back of our minds. We fill our days with work and chores and errands and scrolling, always telling ourselves that we’ll make time for our ideas someday. But you only get so many somedays. And once those run out, it’s curtains on all the great ideas you could’ve brought to life. That’s sad for you, but it’s also sad for the rest of us. Because ideas (especially good ones) want to spread. They want to impact other people and spark new ideas. They want to create impact and joy and solve problems and make memories. But they can’t do that until you make the decision to take them out of your head and out of your heart and bring them to life. Yesterday was a someday. Today is another one still. And when next week's newsletter lands in your inbox, seven more somedays will have gone down the drain. If all goes well, I’ve got about 60 years of somedays left to bring my ideas to life. Happy Friday, friends. Make it a good one. Kyle Scheele |
Kyle Scheele
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