The Second Half is something I’ve been thinking—and talking—about for a long time. I can remember sitting in a hotel bar in Las Vegas in early 2017, describing the project in boozy detail to a patient and sympathetic work colleague. I'd create a holistic program for mind and body through the game of soccer, rediscovering the passion and openness of youth, while finding the best pickup games and players in New York City in the process!

Maybe I'd reached the station in life—the midlife crisis, as it used to be known. At 43 years of age, I am past the official midway point. But it’s not crisis that’s driving me, or anyone else I’ve talked to. (Since taking the plunge, I’ve met many people who are engaged in second halves of their own, or are at least thinking about it.) Rather, it’s a kind of crisis prevention—taking the necessary steps to ensure a beautiful and fulfilling act two.

In order to do that, I believe, you have to tackle the biggest "what if." For me, it's 'what if I'd given soccer my all?' (See "A Soccer Life: Finding Meaning in My Second Half" for the full background). It doesn't matter that the answer is impossible to know. Asking the question is enough. That’s what the Second Half is all about—reconciling your past so that you can march forward into the future with knowledge, conviction, and an open heart.