This is Optimal Living Daily Episode 1112, Glory Days by Chris Gillebo of ChrisGillebo.com

and I'm Justin Malik, the guy who's been reading articles, book excerpts, essays, sometimes stories even,

everyday including holidays. Today's author is Chris Gillebo, frequently narrated over on one of

our other shows Optimal Business Daily and I'll keep this intro nice and short for you so let's

get right to it and start optimizing your life.

Glory Days by Chris Gillebo of ChrisGillebo.com

I sat in the back of the room as the keynote speaker talked about his experience as a war veteran.

It was a good story for the first five minutes filled with close calls, bonding with peers,

and learning about the outside world. Then he kept going. He talked for 10, 15, nearly 20 minutes

about the war before moving on to the subject he was supposed to speak about. The war in question

in Vietnam took place more than 30 years ago. Yet to hear him talk it was as if he had just

returned from a tour in Iraq. He told the story as if it had all happened yesterday and anyone

listening could appreciate how the time in the war had made him into the person he was that day.

But it also made me wonder what has he been doing for the past 30 years?

I looked around the room. The thing about speaking to a crowd of 200 people is that there are always

going to be a few people who love everything you say. Aside from this small group that applauded

every few minutes, I saw everyone else checking their phones, whispering to their neighbor,

or reading through unrelated literature. For the most part, we had stopped paying attention.

While our speaker was reliving a war from his youth, we had moved on to the present day.

Back in the summer of 69. Here's another one. Have you ever been around a 50-year-old man who

continually relives his high school football days? If you haven't, I can tell you that it's a sad

experience. I've heard the stories over and over, but each year I make the ritualistic visit

...