Rocker Sammy Hagar had it right. I can't drive 55! Yep like a lot of kids through the generations, I've always loved that rock song belting it out while zooming down the toll road radar detector humming along. Today, though, it really takes on a whole new meaning. Holy Grown-Ups, Batman! Fifty-five isn't just a speed limit; it's actually a measure of how long you've been on this earth! It's 55 years!
Now I really get it when Hagar and I wail together "One foot on the brake and one on the gas, hey!" That's exactly how I feel most any given day, one brain lobe concentrating toward a future era when I'll expend less time and effort on life, while my alter ego is speeding up the tempo so I can get more accomplished before I get "too old". (Did I really say that?) It's just that there are still so many open doors out there that hold possibilities! I want to encourage optimism and hope and kindness and love. I still need time to cement my place in Heaven by trying to do the Lord's work on earth.
"I can't drive 55!" But I am - 55 that is. Dang, I'm not 18 or 21 or even 39. Or for that matter, 40-ish. Sammy Hagar screams "When I drive that slow, you know it's hard to steer, and I can't get my car out of second gear. What used to take two hours now takes all day..." Sammy, by the way, just recently turned 65, so he probably sings that part in the shower every morning now. But, not me. Many of us Baby Boomers enjoy exceptions to the expected aging normalities. Mine is that I still retain the hyperactivity that always plagued me as a child and young adult. Now it's an asset, though, if I can just re-direct that excess energy towards getting more good stuff done. Now, I do admit that life may be a little different since age 21 (thank goodness for that); I probably can't as easily do a cheerleader split jump (although honestly, I haven't tried lately); and when I download new music to my iPod, it is possible that I could be the age of the band's grandmother (admittedly, that one is still a little hard to accept.) Yet, the flip side is that I am convinced age is a definite improvement. I am more developed in mind and spirit, stronger in confidence and persuasiveness, and what people think doesn't mean nearly as much to me as what is right. "So, go on and write me up for one 125! 'Cause I can't drive 55!" But, in the words of another great philosopher - M C Hammer - "It's all good."
