You're Not Too Old

On a recent day in New Hampshire, a hiker took a tumble and bloodied his elbow on the Appalachian Trail.

The injury doesn’t sound like much, except M.J. Eberhart is 83 years old, and it would’ve been hard to fault him if the misstep made him quit.

“Do you think if I complain about it, it will go away?” Eberhart asked a friend.

So he continued on, and this past weekend, became the oldest man to ever complete the 2,193-mile trail.

While the feat is a great snapshot into mental endurance and competitive stamina, it’s also a reminder that we’re not too old to accomplish the uncommon.

So often in life, we set entirely arbitrary deadlines for our goals. Become a head coach by 30. Win a prestigious award by 40. Take over as CEO by 50. Become a multi-millionaire by 60.

Then, we put ourselves down or view ourselves as failures if we don’t reach these noble, but at times unrealistic, dreams on schedule.

The most fulfilling triumphs, though, are often preceded by painful disappointment, hardship, adversity and failure.

And frequently, they come far later in life than expected.

No matter our age or past trials, our best days can still lie ahead of us.

Samuel L. Jackson didn’t get his big break with Pulp Fiction until he was 46.

Charles Darwin didn’t publish “On the Origin of Species” until he was 50.

Bruce Arians didn’t become an NFL head coach until he was 62.

Delia Owens’ first book, “Where the Crawdads Sing,” was released when she was 69 and became a New York Times best-seller of 135 weeks.

Barbara Hillary became the first Black woman to reach the North Pole at 75, then the first to reach the South Pole at 79.

We’re not fatally behind schedule if we’re not exactly where we envisioned we’d be right now. We can still be ambitious, achieve what few have, and ultimately, find true fulfillment and meaning.

Create the plan, pursue the vision, adjust accordingly, don’t get crippled by adversity or missed timelines.

"I've a got a couple of skid marks on me, but I'm OK," Eberhart told NPR. "You've got to have an incredible resolve to do this."

So do we in our own pursuits.

Regardless of the disappointment of yesterday, let’s never surrender the hope of tomorrow.

We need to keep hiking.