Wasn't that a great movie, Saturday Night Fever? I always liked the Bee Gees song, "Stayin' Alive," for the name and the beat; but what a disappointment when I actually looked at the lyrics and discovered that it wasn't really about being ALIVE -- it was more like "hanging in there." That's what you do when the going gets tough; but even in the worst of times, we want more to life than getting up in the morning and dragging through another day.
As we turn 65, Staying Alive means something. It means not succumbing to our own ideas about growing old; and that means not succumbing to other people's ideas about aging. In our culture of youth, we start folding up our tents after thirty, saying, "it's all downhill from here." But why? Because the blush will be off the rose, and we'll start moving more slowly toward the dreaded "end"?
The older we get, the more precious is every day of this precious human life. And now that we are living longer -- most of us can expect to reach 85, if not 100 -- we find we have been given a new challenge with these added years. What shall we do with them?
Staying Alive means remaining vital, alert, and engaged in life no matter what Old Age drags in and drops at our door. It means savoring the golden light of an autumn afternoon and looking at the roses as we move along the path. Whether we are moving quickly or slowly as we head to the post office to pick up that social security check, we can still enjoy witnessing the marvelous unfolding of creation all around us.
How to do it? Well, that's what this blog is going to be about!
