The Post about Being 40
I turned 40 last week and can’t help but be excited about the next decade or two. About halfway through my working career and things have never been better honestly.
At 20, I had just come back the second of my favorite summers at Sugar Pine Christian Camps. I was about to start what would be the most influential job in my life — student body Vice President at Fresno Pacific, and had questionable facial hair but quite a bit of hair on the top of my had. Apologies to my brother in advance.
Now, I’m married with two kids and work-wise am feeling I’m just getting started, having taken about 8 years in EdTech to figure out what I’m best at and then making the jobs I’m doing be what I’m interested in — working with Standards/Skills and Learning Resources, with an eye towards Data Science/AI development. Both my Math and Psychology major learnings from 20 years ago still factor into my daily work, just differently then when roaming the halls of McLane High School in 2005–2011.
My Playlist
Since about 2019 I’ve made a yearly playlist that reflects perhaps an old song that was stuck in my head this year, or was important beceause of an event that year. For example, this summer my family had the chance to go to Scotland and England and we saw the Phantom of the Opera in the West End. The songs aren’t ranked in order, more what I saw on my playlist or thought of when I was making the list. Long time staples like Relient K (Collapsible Lung has made the list every year I think), new music from Switchfoot, MxPx and other bands from the 90’s/20000’s that are still occasionally making new music. A few songs from Derek Webb, songs more about doubt(“I’m still here”) than faith which I find equally important as well as some excellent Rich Mullins covers released in 2021. Some songs were picked based on one line — not a huge fan of the overall song or artist, but I love the line in Colton Dixon’s song ‘More of You’ that says, “ I made my castle tall/ I built up every wall/This is my kingdom and it needs to fall…“ and Relient K’s 20 year old classic I Am Understood that metaphorically states, “And through the times I’ve faded and You’ve outlined me again…” because this year I’ve felt a bit of a resurgence both in my personal ambition (eg doing another Half Ironman) and professionally catching a big wind in my sales even if it meant taking more risks than I was comfortable with at first.
If you’re still reading, here are a few things I want to learn this decade that aren’t boring financial goals:
- Actually learn how to play poker. I’ve played once but that was 2015 and I had to have notes saved on my phone.
- Play 18 holes of golf.
- Do an Ironman triathlon
- Almost send both of my kids to college… wow…
