The Day You Realize You're Old And Washed Up Is One Of The Most Important Days In A Man's Life
This is a blog that I've been meaning to write for a while, and this video was the perfect reminder. Because Brigham Young over here? Well he's way too Brigham Old to be doing shit like this. I don't think there's a single person who looked at this video and didn't know exactly how it would end before they even hit the "play" button. And it's not just because of the fact that this man is dressed up like he's about to go knock on every door in the neighborhood only to be told that the owner of the house isn't home. It's just because he's too old to be attempting something like this.
There comes a time in every man's life when he realizes that he's washed up. It hits some later than others, but it happens to all of us at some point. A moment when you realize that half the stuff you used to do as a teenager without even thinking about would now have you icing your body for the next several days and/or weeks. And that moment is critical because as soon as it happens to you, you're ready to live the next chapter of your life.
For me, it was tearing my ACL in a men's league lacrosse game. I had torn my ACL before in high school and when you have an injury like that as a kid, people feel bad for you. They wish you a speedy recovery and to get back as soon as you can. It's a little different when you're 28 and telling people you tore your ACL playing beer league. At that point people just think you're a dumbass and that you should probably hang it up. Tough realization to come to, but a necessary one.
Because once you reach that point, you stop pushing it. You show up to alumni games and instead of trying to play the entire game and being sore as shit for the next month, you ease your way into taking a few shifts and mainly just focus on the post-game beers afterwards. It's enough activity for you to feel accomplished about your day, but not enough that you're going to go through a gallon of Ibuprofen afterwards.
The thought of riding a bike down a flight of stairs won't even cross your mind. Not because you don't think you can do it, but because you know you wouldn't even want to do it in the first place.
And I'm not saying that you just sit your ass on the couch for the rest of your life once you realized you're washed up. You can still do plenty of athletic activities. But it's just the mindset of knowing you're not there to push it, you're just there for a good time. That's the moment when you stop being a boy, and you start to become a man. Hopefully this mormon fella came to that realization as he was laying face first in the cement.