Old Age

Watching some of the people on Facebook vent their politics can be humorous. They all are young and idealistic and they make me laugh. Most of them will stick with their ideals for a few years then drop them like a bad habit once they hit the real world of family raising and work and good things like that.
I am old, some days I am very, very old. I still follow the same convictions i did in my youth. I was a hippie then and I am a hippie today. I watched the hippies shun money and power in the sixties then watched in horror as most of them went from hippies to Yuppies, chasing the Almighty Dollar they swore they hated and driving themselves around in BMWs. What happened to these people?
I grew up poor and now that I am old I am still poor. In the years in between I managed to spend forty years working, never getting rich nor ever caring if I did. Sure, I'd daydream about winning the lottery like everyone else. But, I never won and it didn't concern me.
I raised five stepchildren along with two wives and we always managed to survive on my salary and my wife's salary. We didn't live high on the hog but we did okay. The kids had food and clothing and shelter and schooling so all went well there.
I am sixty one years old and poor as can be. I do not chase after the Almighty Dollar but I don't pass one up if I see it either, like when I write blog posts for others on here. It isn't a lot of money but any extra money is always a good thing, even for an old hippie like me.
The older and sicker I get it seems like the more I think about being mortal. If there is one thing I can take to the grave with me it is the satisfaction that I lived my life on my terms as much as possible and no one else could force me to change. Sure, I paid attention to whatever my bosses told me to do, I wasn't stupid lol But, all things considered I am the same person at sixty one that I was at eighteen.
Set your priorities in order, follow them with all your heart and gusto and the end result will be that you get old and find that you are happy.

Easy Come, Easy Go

I wonder how many of you figured out the message of the two songs that I posted. The messages aren't really hidden, especially in the second song.
The first song is a beautiful love song, and hippies are all about love and peace for sure, but the message that hit me the hardest in the song was:
If they gave me a fortune, my pleasure would be small, I could lose it all tomorrow and never mind at all. It's only money people. Easy come, easy go! Yes, it does seem like most people work their tails off at their jobs for what they often see as a small reward on payday. By the time you've paid all your bills there's not much left over to waste. But, your thinking is erroneous.
You have a roof over your head. You have utilities that help you to be able to cook your food and heat or cool your home. You have a telephone service so that you can keep in contact with other people or surf the web through a DSL connection. You more than likely have cable so that you can enjoy whatever television programs you like to watch. Basically, you have all the things that you need and some that you do not need but you want. Grumbling about not having enough will not get you anywhere, enjoy what you DO have!
The second song is much easier to decipher. I don't give a damn about a greenback dollar. Again, it is only money! The character of this song is happy with just a whaling song and a good guitar. He travels but you don't hear any mention of a fast car or even a fast horse. He simply enjoys the simple things in life and he is happy. We all could take lessons from that!
So, remember, it is only money and it does go easily. Enjoy whatever simple pleasures you have in life and be happy. No sense going through life being miserable because you don't have this or that fancy thing. All that worry and stress gets you is bad health. And, with bad health you won't enjoy much of anything!

Hint Number Two

Another message song. See if you can find the (not so) hidden message here:

Hippie

Before I do the hippie post, I want to share this video with you. There is a very strong message in this song that affected me deeply and was a major contributor to my hippie way of thinking. I wonder if anyone will find the message in this wonderful love song.

It's Only Money

I grew up in the poor part of every town I ever lived in. In most of these places those places today would be called "the projects". Nothing but poor people there, striving to make ends meet with whatever resources they could find, be it welfare checks or a low paying job. Not the most pleasant of life's pictures for most folks. But, most folks would be wrong.
The majority of these people were happy. Sure, they don't have enough money, or food at times, but what they do have is heart and soul. They have their family and they are happy. Yes, they dream of having lots of money and living in a big fancy house. Yes they sometimes dream of having servants that will do all their housework. But, deep down inside, they know this is all a dream. But, everyone needs a dream to help them get through the tough times.
As a poor kid I sometimes had the opportunity to play with rich kids, many of them spoiled beyond belief. After a visit with one of these kids I would be amazed at all the goodies they had to play with but I also felt great sorrow for these kids. Sorrow because they had every little thing that they wanted yet were not happy with any of them.
These visits to the "other side of the tracks" taught me one of the most valuable lessons I would ever learn in life. It is only money. Money cannot buy you happiness no matter how hard you try. It can buy you material things that will, temporarily, make you feel happy but that happy feeling is short lived.
I have lived almost 60 years on this earth and, even though I worked at a good job with good pay, I have always been poor. I'm retired now and I am most definitely poor, money-wise. But I really do not care as I still know that "it's only money" is as true now as it was when I was a kid.
I have my family, five grown stepchildren who love me. I have two spouses who care about my health and well being. I have a few friends that care about me too. I have great faith to get me through even the darkest of times. As you can see, I have it all!
And, in my next personal post I will explain how this "it's only money" philosophy led me down the path of becoming a hippie in the 1960's. I'm almost 60 and it is now 2010 and, guess what? I am still a hippie!