(My 100th!) Can We all Slow Down and Enjoy Right Now

My 100th Post!

You know I’ve been thinking about what lyrics I should use for my 100^th post for a long time.  I was planning a true Magnum Opus so the title lyrics needed to be epic, something from the Beatles, Stones, U2, Pearl Jam, etc.  But the other day I was driving my daughters to camp and of course was listening to the required Disney Channel on XM Radio.  I heard the song Price Tag by Jessie J and it just stuck with me as where I am at right now.

Yep, this is what I’m all about now:

            “Ain’t about the cha-ching, cha-ching

            Ain’t about the ba-bling, ba-bling

            Wanna make the world dance

            Forget about the price tag”

Of course when you are just a fry cook at Mickey D’s it’s easy to have that attitude!  J

I’ve also been really stuck on that Foster the People Song for some time but I won’t ask you to outrun my bullets! J

I did sort of write a similar recap on my Ashley Madison anniversary back in April that outlined some of my take-aways from my Ashley Madison experiences.  I guess since this is a blogging anniversary I should do something around blogging takeaways.  Or maybe not.

So Ashley Madison’s tag line is “life is short, have an affair.”  Well I won’t speculate on whether anyone should or should not have an affair but life is shorter than we think.

I attended a staff retreat shortly after taking my current job back east.  It was a very tranquil time because I was so happy to be here.  There was a very good speaker at the retreat that gave me two great takeaways.

First, he asked us to write down what age we thought we would live to.  I wrote down 85.  Then he asked us to write down our age.  For me it would have been 40 at the time.  Then he said subtract your age from the age you plan to live to.  For me 85 - 40 = 45.  Then he said multiply that by 52.  So that would be 45 * 52 = 2,340.  Then he said assuming you have to work for a living during the week that is the number of weekends you have left to live.  And then he said how many of those remaining weekends that you have left do want to invest in being miserable.  I think there were some other points he made but the bottom line is that when you put a number on the time you have remaining in the world you start to realize that you need to maximize your happiness in the time you have left in the best manner possible.

Second, the speaker also talked about going through a divorce.  He mentioned an instance when his daughter told him something that infuriated him.  He said what his daughter said “was something just like her mother would say.”  But then he had an epiphany when he realized it was “his daughter’s god given right to be just as much like her mom as she was her dad and that he couldn’t do anything about it, he could only accept it and find a way to appreciate.”

So to recap, bottom line:  not too much time on earth, got to accept people for who they are, and “don’t worry, be happy!”  Well, I just added the “don’t worry, be happy.”  Did I say I was an INTJ or C on DISC.

OK so another thing we are dealing with at this time on earth is this stinkin’ economy.  A few years ago I began to be intrigued by articles like this:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/06/cant-afford-divorce-in-hard-time-couples-stick-tog/

Apparently in this economy many people find they simply can’t get divorced.  Or rather, the life they have put themselves into does not allow them to live without dual incomes.  And often home values drive this inability to divorce.  When you have no equity in your home you have no leverage with which to put yourself into your next living situation.

Now another thing I have been thinking about.  I have been fascinated by Strauss and Howe’s Generations for many years.  As a proud member of Generation X I think divorce tends to be difficult on us not simply because of economic factors but as a reaction to our “Me” generation parents.  We are the first “latch key” children so I believe our way of rebelling is to be more family-centric.  Think Alex P. Keaton who rebelled against his rebellious 60’s hippy parents by being conservative.

So to recap, bottom line:  little time on earth, understand one another, economy bad, we don’t want to be like our parents, and “don’t worry, be happy.”  Wow, how does all that jive Ryan, I think your full of a word that starts with “s” and ends in “t” and rhymes with pit.

So in walks Ashley Madison.  Us Gen X’ers are already computer savvy and along with our Millennial neighbors adept at understanding social networking.  We find ourselves stuck in dead or dormant relationships, we don’t want to do to our kids what our parents generationally did to us, we know our life is finite, and “girls (and guys) just want to have fun.”  I decided to sub in a new lyric.

So is this an Infomercial for Ashley Madison.  Absolutely not, AM is just a kick start or fuel to get you where you may need to go.

So a lot of information and a lot of opinion Ryan but how are you going to bring it back to those Jessie J lyrics?

Well I guess my final advice is this:

For too long we have put a price tag on ourselves.  We have allowed ourselves to be sold into a $1,500/month mortgage, $8K vacations to Disney or the Caribbean, and unsecured debt as a result of all the latest electronic contraptions that we feel are necessary in life.  But what we don’t have is better understanding and happiness.  I won’t sing the praise of Ashley Madison as a vehicle to transport us to a better world.  But what we seek when we log onto Ashley Madison is what we really want, a connection to another human being that shares our pursuit of happiness.  Will you find it on Ashley Madison?  Maybe so, maybe not.  But, I would encourage you to take the energy you might have toward one of these social sites and apply it toward finding ways to enjoy life in any way possible.  And to do it by connecting with people not through consumption.

I'll reveal my all time favorite post on Monday.

So don’t be about the cha’ching cha’ching or ba’bling ba’bling; try to make the world dance, forget about the price tag!