I Have Seen The Light!

Ok, I have to get this down while its still in my brain.

Have you ever had one of THOSE moments where things click into place and you realize somethings that you had wondered on for so long and thought that you would never get a decent answer? I just had one of those moments waiting for the elevator after I got my morning Pop-tart from the vending machine, one floor up.

I was standing there and I was thinking how this weekend I actually bought a couple of dvds (used) for myself, at a record store, for $5 each. One of them was The Blues Brothers. I was wondering, as I sometimes do, why do I like this movie? Yes, great story, music, characters... but then I dug deeper. I love this movie for all of those things (Belushi/Ackroyd!!!) but also it reminds me of the times I would go see one of my best friends in Chicago. I remember driving around at night and it reminding me of the drives the Blues Brothers took. And every time I see the Lower whacker Dr sign, I would mimic, "Well this is certainly Lower Whacker Drive..." from the movie; its near the end. In any case, that gave me a warm fuzzie. Awwwww. But that's not THE moment. But this.

Then I thought how, at my age people would be retiring, (yeah right) ok, normally, in what was a normal economy, people would. They would have the time to go and travel and see friends.

I have thought, in my recent times, that I am paying the bill for the good times I had when I was young. Usually I think of this as a negative. Now I have come to realize that while the check is due, it is in no way the negative that I had thought. Yes. I am paying for the time I played. But I need to remember that I had a great time! I lived times that will never be again, in a time that is gone forever and I was young enough to enjoy it! Now don't get me wrong, if I had the time and money I would enjoy it, but then you factor in the age thing. All my contemporaries, at the time I was having those fun times, were busy working. Ok, so Grasshopper and the Ant. And while I take the responsibility, I needn't take the mental idea that paying the bill is a negative. Hey, we go to a restaurant, we order, we eat. the bill comes due. Sometimes we pay before, sometimes we pay after. I like the Golden Coral buffet, you pay before you eat. I also love Chinese buffets and you pay after. For a loooooong time, I have thought of this negatively. I have had good friends try and get me to see things differently.

Their mistake was not trying to make me see where I am now. Yes, financially I suck. But what I have, and understand, is that I have memories of times that were great! And I was young enough to appreciate them! If my friends go and try and do the things I did 20 years, they could I am sure, but the prices would be higher (both in money and the toal), and, the old age, age does catch up with you. When you are young, you can out run. As you get older, age is where you go to bed on a weekend at 11pm. And while I may not be at the bars hanging til 2am, I am not in bed by 11. Ideas change. Priorities change. And now, thank you Lord, my own perception has changed. Thank you for helping me see it. And it took was strawberry Pop-Tarts and The Blues Brothers.