The second wave is a metaphor for life.

The first wave begins early.

It builds as you grow.

It is long, strong, and forward-driving.

It carries you through education, work, building, proving, accumulating.

Speed matters. Strength matters. Momentum matters.

For a long time, that wave does exactly what it is meant to do.

Then the water changes.

The first wave does not end but begins to flatten.

It no longer carries you in the same way.

You don’t wake up one morning and think, “Ah yes, today is the day I begin my transition to a different life.”

No. It sneaks up on you like a dodgy knee.

Maybe you’ve noticed it.

You walk into work and everyone looks young.

You can’t be bothered learning the new systems and processes they keep rolling out.

People around you talk faster, move faster, change faster and you’re thinking, “When did the pace pick up, and why wasn’t I told?”

This is totally normal.

You are past your prime.

Not past your life, past the first version of it.

Let’s get something straight early.