As I begin to write this column, I’m reminded of a column I wrote three years ago this month, in February 2019. I’m just glad a column like this doesn’t come around any more often.

See the last time, I wrote about what it means to be a weekend warrior, and how I injured my ankle while playing soccer. The same setting applies here. I’m still the assistant varsity soccer coach at Summit Christian Academy, and we were practicing at an indoor soccer facility because of weather.

The difference this time; it wasn’t my ankle.

Trying to get in shape and stay in shape at my age isn’t easy. Some people say, “It stinks getting old.”

However, I’m perfectly fine with getting old. I mean, even though I know where I’ll end up, I have no interest in dying young. So, getting old and realizing you can’t do the same things you used to do 20 or 30 years ago, is fine. I guess.

It’s just that your mind thinks it can, and your body reminds you that it can’t. That’s the misconnect. I’ve often said, “A man’s body ages faster than his mind.”

Don’t you agree?

So last Friday, as our Summit boys and girls soccer teams were scrimmaging together, I got out there and decided to play along. Following a play in the corner, I began to head up the field with the ball still behind me. As I turned my head backwards to see if my “teammate” was going to clear the ball out of the corner, I immediately saw the printing on the ball smash into my eye and the left side of my face.

My eye became cloudy, as if my cornea was scratched, and my brain rattled in my head. I had a headache and my jaw hurt. I figured I likely had a minor concussion, but I’m no doctor.

Thankfully, the eyesight cleared up by the next morning, I still had some swelling on my left cheek, and the headache lasted all weekend.

Will this latest injury make me stop trying to play with these young highschoolers?

No, not a chance. I enjoy playing too much, and I really need the exercise. It will, however, cause me to pick my spots and be more cautious when I do decide to get involved in a soccer match.

I guess the lesson in all of this is, no matter how old you are, don’t stop doing what you enjoy doing. You may have to slow down a bit or drastically change the way you do it, but don’t stop.

Think about Karl Wallenda who in his 70s was still walking tight ropes. Gordie Howe played in the NHL until he was 51. Betty White, who was still acting in a weekly sitcom well into her 90s, and made her last appearance on television just a few weeks before her death at 99. Or, think of any number of singers or music groups who are still touring and performing well into their 70s and 80s. Tony Bennett just had to cancel concerts because he can no longer remember the lyrics, but he’s 95.

The old saying is true; it’s never too late to start. Depending on what “it” is, I hope you never have to stop. I don’t intend to ever stop doing what I enjoy.