This week we elected a new President of the United States who is five years younger than I am. All my life, presidents were old men at the pinnacles of their careers, and I was a young guy. Even Clinton, one of the younger presidents, was ten years older than I when he was elected.

Obama is a lot younger. No doubt, the administration staff and cabinet will also be young. All of a sudden I find myself on the other side of the hill, or the hump, and without sounding melancholy, fatalistic or defeated, it is making me think.

When the Eagles came out with the song “It’s Your World Now” about a year ago I was moved by it. Now it rings truer than ever. I catch myself thinking of my own life in terms of how much time is left, not how much opportunity is in front of me. And it shifts my thinking, my priorities, and it gives a new spin to how I spend my days and my moments.