Grow Up or Grow Down, If Tootie can’t helps Us, then what?

I found a website and I plan on using the crap out of it.

It had a listing of 50 questions you should ask yourself before you die. OH, now that is a topic rich for mining some future blog posts. Today’s is pretty interesting, as I hope all will be  – but this one I like – Here’s the question – How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?

I think initially anyone over 30 would say younger while anyone under 13 would say older. It’s a peculiarity of human nature that the grass is always greener. When you’re a kid nothing looks quite so awesome as the life led by anyone older than you. No more stress, gone are the days of spelling tests and homework, the tyranny of being so completely dominated by anyone, mostly your parents – but in reality it’s pretty much everyone older than you as well. Although I think that’s changing somewhat, we’ve lost that base of civility that long history of “respect your elders” – tell a kid to do something now and your chances are 50 – 50 whether or not you get an OK or a F-you back in response.

It’s both sad and a natural progression of “elders” having lost some of the respect they used to command. You can’t turn on the TV or open a webpage without hearing about some “adult” lying or cheating or stealing or doing something else reprehensible. I don’t respect most people, why do we expect kids to? That being said, I know there are still plenty of decent hard-working people out there but that talent pool seems to shrink by the day.

When I was younger, being older was pretty much the only goal I had – OK so I wasn’t exactly shooting for the moon… but it just seemed so much… better. Driving, having money, playing with boobies for reasons other than nourishment… Someday, I’m gonna cross that last one off my list.

Then I actually got older and suddenly driving, brought traffic, and gas and repairs and insurance and actually buying a car, and having money meant working – like getting up and going in to deal with a bunch of people you spent more time with than your family, who in most cases you were forced to get along with, doing someone else’s bidding in a tragic reality whereby you busted your hump to make the owner, more money than you would ever likely see. Then there were the boobies, don’t even get me started on the hoops you have to jump through for that particular pleasure… volumes have already been written…

and there are times when you long, yes, actually – you looooong for the more simplistic time, when you were a kid and you had zero responsibility, or at most keeping your room clean and doing just enough work not to fail in school. I wonder. What is the particular reason we can never seem to be happy where we are – why can’t we just enjoy being kids when we’re kids, why can’t we enjoy being adults when we’re adults. It just leads to a lifetime of frustration and trying to get where we’re not… where the point in that?

Most older people will recall some golden, younger time – when they weren’t quite so stiff in the morning – and not in a good way. When it didn’t sound like an obscure african tribal language of clicks and pops as their joints protested their bending over, when we were smoother – had more hair, or less. When we didn’t have all this constant pressure and responsibility, when we only thought as far as the next night out with friends. To be sure, they were great times and I have more than my share of memories, some good, some great but there they sit – as they should. Why would I want to do them all over again?

That saying you frequently hear – if I knew then what I know now – I think the vast majority of us would do the exact same thing, because we were in the moment, consequences what’s that? Now when your older, I believe you should have a pretty firm grasp on the “GRAVITY”  of your actions, and why we try so hard to impress upon kids they need to work harder, study more, make better choices? It ain’t gonna happen – if it did, my god each and every generation would improve exponentially and I’d be writing this post from my vacation home on Jupiter.

I believe a smash televisions show from the 80’s, said it best – “you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have – the facts of life, ohhhhh, the facts of life… When the world never seems to be livin up to your dreams, And suddenly you’re finding out the Facts of Life are all about you, all about you.

Thank You Jo & Blair and Natalie and thank you Tootie… for trying to help us make life just a bit easier to understand. You get us, you really get us…

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So Again I say, What age would you be if you didn’t know what age you were?…. for a change, why not try enjoying exactly what you are…

Have a Great Day