It’s only a number. Yet life is typically measured in years, so there is a tendency to count the years of life rather than consider the impact of years lived. What happens if life is cut short, if 34 ends abruptly at 26?

As life happens, one of the three best days of mine occurred 34 years ago with the birth of our youngest son. This year his birthday fell the day after our Thanksgiving holiday. As I gave thanks for many wonderful blessings, I also reflected with Thanksgiving for his vibrant life well-lived:

1. Endless positive energy
2. That smile
3. Judging actions and not heritage
4. Love of dogs
5. Always being up for a special occasion
6. Preference to ‘graze’ throughout the day
7. Packing 27 hours into a 24 hour day
8. Ability to Cat-Nap anywhere, anytime
9. Practical joking
10. Finding joy and humor in small things
11. Intolerance of intolerable people
12. Intense focus on the task at hand
13. Discipline to do the work
14. Leadership with purpose
15. Playing trumpet like Maynard Ferguson
16. Appreciating different genres of music to fit the mood
17. Passion for cars, especially fast ones
18. Texas two-stepping
19. Pool sharking
20. Warm water surfing
21. Frozen water snow-boarding
22. Wearing creative Halloween costumes
23. Florida Gators & Air Force Falcons football
24. Miami Dolphins football (sometimes…)
25. Flying in the Air Force
26. Pursuing excellence
27. Duty, Honor, Country
28. Treasuring Freedom
29. Traveling and different cultures
30. Investing for the future
31. Mooning his brother at every opportunity
32. Always believing in the art of the possible
33. Celebrating with friends
34. Maximizing the Moment!

The list could go on but these 34 qualities quickly flowed from my stream of consciousness. There are better measures of a lifetime than the number of years. Who are you thankful for and do they know it?

Tempus Maximize!