I’m sitting here in my big, comfortable, manly, black leather papa chair in my living room, and my legs are hurting, and I’m trying to remember what my Lady Wonder Wench wanted me to do with her car tomorrow, and I’m looking at a blank page where the copy for a new TV commercial that’s due this coming week is supposed to be…and in general, I’m feeling like an oldie-mouldy. Do you ever get that feeling? Like old age is creeking up on you. You feel like your social security number could be 000-00-0001. Like when God said, “Let there be light”…you were the one who flipped the switch. You feel yourself going from why not? to why bother? You’re tempted to go to a dentist and have him put braces on your dentures to make you feel younger. Is that what’s bothering you? Huh? Does it seem like your wild oats have turned to shredded wheat? Don’t complain. Remember the Gratitude/Attitude Connection. As Big Louie, his own bad self says: “We have enough youth. How about a fountain of smart?”
George Carlin had a wonderful and very smart take on the passing years. He said, “The most unfair thing about life is how it ends. Life is tough. What do you get at the end of it ? Death. What’s that, a bonus ? I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get that out of the way. Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked out when you’re too young, you get a gold watch, you go to work. You work 40 years till your young enough to enjoy your retirement. You party hearty, you get ready for high school. You go to grade school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a little baby, you go back into the womb, you spend your last nine months floating…and you finish off in an orgasm.” George Carlin was a Louie Louie kind of guy.
It’s sometimes a weird time of life now for us Louie Louie Generation folks…finding ourselves in the middle of a room and wondering, “Who am I and what am I doing here?” Getting down on the floor to do some push ups, and pushing…and having Mr. Floor totally ignore you. Finding yourself saying, “What?” a lot.
It happened so fast. Just when I figured I was getting my head together, my muscles fell off. Last year my doctor said “I think you should have a stress test so I can save your life.” I said ok. The first thing he did was give me a form to sign that said essentially that this life saving test could kill me, but I’m holding everybody in sight blameless. I signed it because I figured if I’m dead why should I care. Then he started the treadmill; every few minutes the speed and the angle went up. I was sweating pretty good, but I was keeping up. So I asked the doctor what’s the record for this thing. He said 27 minutes. So I put my head down and got into it. But when I hit 17 minutes HE STOPPED THE DAMN THING. I said…WHAT ARE YOU DOING ? And he said it. The thing I HATE. He said “You did very well FOR A GUY YOUR AGE.” If he had been standing one foot closer, I’d have grabbed his stethoscope and blown Revile right in his ears.
There are lots of advantages to being a member of the Louie Louie Generation, not the least of which is called, “Been There, Done That.” But it’s also true that you find yourself doing some things that you didn’t do before. And you don’t like all of them. There’s a story about that in the Night Connections Personal Audio CD. It’s a fast lesson in how quickly our lives slip away. And, having been there, and done that, I know how the husband in the story felt when he woke up in the morning. I bet he stopped on the way home from work, and bought her some flowers.
“The Slip Away Wife” is from the Night Connections Personal Audio CD. If you like it you can just download it from the Night Connections icon on the home page.
The Gratitude/Attitude Connection. There’s a lot about it in my book, Staying Happy, Healthy And Hot. It’s a big part of the difference between the proud members of the Louie Louie Generation and those Dreadful, Dreary Drones. It’s the difference between being not young, and being old. It’s not really the years at all. My friend Paul Berge nailed it in his introduction to my book. He said, “Louie Louie Folks may not always remember where we put the car keys, or where we put the car for that matter. But we feel pretty good about the fact that we do have a car…somewhere.” We have the Gratitude/Attitude. Lots of folks don’t look at their lives that way. Lots of folks hate the fact that the years have been piling up on them.
Maybe instead of letting their oldie-mouldy feelings eat up the rest of their lives, they should try a the gratitude-attitude that they’ve had all those years. Lots of people don’t get to complain about all their years. Like those kids who died in that school in Connecticut. They never even got to go to a record hop and dance to Louie Louie, or drive a car, or just fall in love and bring someone flowers.
how did YOU know everything this Louie-Louie gal is going through? needed this one – thanks!
Good timing for me too – connected up to a heart monitor with a “Give a Damn” that’s busted. I’ll try to fix it – my Give a Damn, that is.
Having a Gratitude – Attitude says it all! And if your body is telling you to just sit in that big poppa chair…then do it with an attitude of gratitude! And enjoy!