Babyboomers.com

I think I’ve found a new “credo” to try and live by.  Up to now, it’s been, “Little Victories.”  Based on a song by Bob Seger.  Was a time not long ago that anything positive was a “little victory” for me. You kinda have to listen to the song to understand why and how it resonated in me.

But, today, from a comic strip, no less, I found something new.  The answer to the age-old question, “What is the purpose of life?” WOW!  From a comic strip comes an original thought on this philosophical conundrum that has no “right” answer.  At first, I just chuckled at it, thought, “How true.”  I went on to the next comic strip.  A moment later, some little voice in me said to read that strip again.

Hagar the Horrible is with a couple of his buds, standing in front of the “Professor,” who is standing on a pedestal, all grey-bearded and wise looking.  He’s saying he’s been all over the world, consulted with learned men, attended colleges and universities, discussed the purpose of life with theologians, scholars and other deep thinkers.

Hagar and his buds are all leaning forward, saying “Tell us, Professor!  What is the purpose of life?”  And the professor replies, “Every day, live it up a little.”

Could it BE that simple?  Could it be so personal?  Could it be that important?  I thought all those thoughts, and I started thinking back over my life.  No comic strip has EVER made me do that!  And, what I was lookin’ for was the times when I did “live it up a little.”

Many recollections came from my childhood.  I’d say we were “moderately poor,” but I never wanted for anything.  What I NEEDED, I had.  Not a lot else.  But, days when I lived it up a little were common. With a friend or two, alone, or with a group, there are recollections of feeling very good at those times.

Gets tougher to find, further forward I looked. Wife, two children, Air Force life, base to base, country to country.  Had a remote in Alaska. Spent almost 4 years in Izmir, Turkey, and a total of seven years, 3 in Seville, under Franco’s rule, then another 4 in Madrid, after Franco’s death when Spain was just beginning to flex its democratic wings.  Interesting times everywhere we were.

So, yeah, there are some “lived it up” memories from all those years and places and people. I’m so glad they’re still there, in their nice little compartment in my head where one keeps the long-term memories most special, sometimes for ill as well as good.

I’m gonna have to try this new “philosophy” out.  I’m not exactly sure what “living it up” means anymore. But, the memories I recall most vividly are ones when there was joy present.  A joy, almost indefinable as it encompasses so many different memories for different reasons.  But, the commonality seems to be an emotionally charged event.  The ones that generated recollections like, for example, a week on the white sands of the Aegean, never seeing another soul for the duration.  Just the two of us in our own secluded little tented and Coleman stoved Garden of Eden.  Yeah…that one sticks out a lot.

But, those days are gone and lately, the last few years, there have been very few instances of me “living it up.”  Somehow, I see the need to rectify that situation.  The issue, at this stage of our Baby Boomer lives, becomes one of what we do to live it up a little every day?

Actually, I see benefit simply from the effort to FIND a way to live it up a little every day.  That term needs to have a wide and flexible definition, and everyone’s would likely be greatly different.

Occurs to me that the “Little Victories” and the “Live it up a little” philosophies kinda go together.  At least, for me they do.  Either one seems worthy of pursuit, again…for ME!  I preach to no one, nor do I want to be preached to!

But, I’ll tell you this.  That “Little Victories” mind set I put myself into some 15 years ago has stood the test of time, and it’s been effective!  It has kept me optimistic, hopeful, enthused about life, willing to invest, desirous of change and challenge, and it’s kept me sane.  It’s given me strenth, it’s given me understanding, it’s taught me patience and to listen more than I talk.

All things considered, for 63 years of hangin’ around here, I’m not really where I imagined I’d be.  But, where I really am ain’t all that bad.  Least for now.  I’m as afraid of the future as anyone our ages. Mainly, I’m afraid of the “system.”  Long as I can fend for myself, I’m good.  When I can’t do that anymore, I’ll have some decisions to make.

But, those thoughts are for another time. “Live it up a little every day” is NOT a bad measurement of the “purpose of life.” It does, however, have a different meaning to each of us, so there’s billions of “right” answers.

From a frickin’ COMIC STRIP!!!

Be talkin’ to you……………………….Webrydr