Nineteen forever
Wouldn't it be a drag to be like you
Settling down and having kids
And telling them what to do
I'm gonna stay nineteen forever - Nineteen Forever, Joe Jackson
I completely appreciate the sentiments of this song and, as much as I like Joe Jackson, I need to raise the spector of the false dichotomy within the confines of these lyrics. OK, enough of the fancy jargon. I don't think that the "settling down and having kids" part of my life has much to do with my apparent lack of ability to exude a passion for life that is more akin to a 19 year old rather than the 37-almost-38-year-old that I am. I would like to think that I suck the marrow out of life more than the average person and that I do that more so now than in years past.
I wrote about redeeming the time a bit a while ago in this blog and that has something to do with the passion that I want to have for life. With the wild direction/re-direction struggles behind me that characterized much too much of my teen years I can now dig deep into the life that I have been given and even look to do the same in the lives that I have been entrusted with. I won't "sell out everything" and I pray that I will "not be fooled again". And if anyone catches me acting "35" (or 36, 37, 38...) I hope that they slap me upside the head.
I want there to be wild in my eyes like there is in the eyes of my boys. There is responsibility that I have that I never dreamed of having when I was 19. But that should sap me of what I thought life was going to be all those years ago. It should energize me.
It does energize me.
Settling down and having kids
And telling them what to do
I'm gonna stay nineteen forever - Nineteen Forever, Joe Jackson
I completely appreciate the sentiments of this song and, as much as I like Joe Jackson, I need to raise the spector of the false dichotomy within the confines of these lyrics. OK, enough of the fancy jargon. I don't think that the "settling down and having kids" part of my life has much to do with my apparent lack of ability to exude a passion for life that is more akin to a 19 year old rather than the 37-almost-38-year-old that I am. I would like to think that I suck the marrow out of life more than the average person and that I do that more so now than in years past.
I wrote about redeeming the time a bit a while ago in this blog and that has something to do with the passion that I want to have for life. With the wild direction/re-direction struggles behind me that characterized much too much of my teen years I can now dig deep into the life that I have been given and even look to do the same in the lives that I have been entrusted with. I won't "sell out everything" and I pray that I will "not be fooled again". And if anyone catches me acting "35" (or 36, 37, 38...) I hope that they slap me upside the head.
I want there to be wild in my eyes like there is in the eyes of my boys. There is responsibility that I have that I never dreamed of having when I was 19. But that should sap me of what I thought life was going to be all those years ago. It should energize me.
It does energize me.
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