How do you know when it's time to go? Is that enough reason to wear a watch?
Our world is full of people who are going to overstay their welcome. Politicians and boy bands are notorious for staying in front of the microphone long after anybody wants to hear.
In a life where everybody's time is coming, you'd think folks would be more timely. But the truth is, a lot of us have faulty timing chains. The red light might be flashing but we're too gripped by the steering wheel to notice.
It turns out one guy who has a surprisingly aware sense of timing is current Senator Mitt Romney. Mitt announced he would not seek re-election in 2024, saying it was time for a younger generation of leaders. Romney is 76.
Mitt suggested there were a couple other politicians who should follow his lead and make room for new blood. The Utah Senator suggested both Donald Trump and Joe Biden, 77 and 81 respectively, should be riding into the sunset
Granted, it was easier for Romney to hear the bell. Once in the mainstream of Republican thought, Mitt is an outlier in his party as a man with morals, values and decency. Those traits do not belong in the party of Trump.
I've never been a Romney fan but I have to give him respect for knowing when its time to go. And I completely agree that the best thing for America today is Donald Trump and Joe Biden retiring from public life.
I'm pulling for Trump's retirement to be a little more structured, but I promise I want both of them to be gone before the next presidential election. One is a tyrannical megalomaniac and the other is just too darn old.
If there's too young to be elected there's too old to be elected, too. That includes Joe, Mitch, and Dianne and anyone else in DC over 80 I've left out.
But not knowing when its time to go doesn't always mean late to leave. Some decide to go long before its time. It's the ones who take an early checkout that are most on my mind today.
From 2020 through 2022, suicide rates in the United States increased over 20%. Nearly 50,000 Americans took their own lives last year. It is the 10th leading cause of death in this country and second in the 10-34 age group.
It would be wrong to suggest everyone who chose suicide was off on their timing. But far too many are leaving us long before their time is up. That includes my friend who left this world last Friday.
He had it all is what most of us thought. He was a firefighter and a hero to many. An adventurer and lover of the outdoors. He was loved by everyone who knew him.
But that didn't keep him here. Something told him it was time to go and he did. Many of us would surely have told him otherwise given the chance. Maybe he would have reset his watch.
Or maybe he wouldn't. He might have just told us all it was time to Tom down and he'll see us in the next eddy.