TIME AND VOCATION are interesting for me these days.  Many of the teachers that I started with have moved on.  And even though many of our new teachers are younger than me, I find myself mostly “leading” teachers who are older than me.  In one of the groups I am in, I’m the youngest person in the group, but I’ve been in the group longer than a good number of them.  Time warps funny around me.

I grew up thinking that vocation was a long-term thing.  These days, it’s hard to tell.  It feels like people, and investments in them, are disappearing.  At the same time, I feel like I’m just getting started.  What does vocation in the long-term look like?

Turns out that Donald Miller posted some thoughts on the long-term logistics of “peaking at 65” (as opposed to peaking at an early 25).  In a nutshell, Miller suggests:

try to peak as late in life as possible. 

Succeeding when young can “backfire” on us if we aren’t careful, he asserts.  How does he suggest you do this?  Well, you can read the rest of his article here, but at least consider this:

Peaking at 65 means you don’t chase fashion trends or try to assess your personal worth by Twitter followers or how many people have read your latest book. Peaking at 65 means doing excellent work over the long haul.

Maybe even if you change jobs or rethink vocation, there’s some good thinking in here for everyone.  You can read other posts by Donald Miller and others at his blog, Storylineblog.com.