Times are tough. Many baby boomers I know are struggling to stay level in a topsy turvy universe. They are being edged out of their jobs by younger workers willing to work for less. Struggling to launch children into adulthood. Trying to help their parents with health and housing issues. Trying to maintain their own mental and physical health. All while watching the daily nightmare news from Washington with increasing dismay.
Earlier this week, surveying my own troublesome situation, I reached back in my mind for a song lyric to both sum up the issue and encourage me (I often think and communicate in song lyrics). I thought first of Tupac's "Keep Your Head Up," and also Soul II Soul's "Keep On Moving," but being a baby boomer I went even further back to a 1972 rock anthem by a one-hit wonder called Argent. The song, "Hold Your Head Up," had the lyrics I was seeking in the moment (though it has an overlong instrumental break with an insipid and damn near unbearable organ solo). I quote:
"And if it's bad, don't let it get you down, you can take it
And if it hurts, don't let them see you cry, you can make it
Hold your head up, ho! hold your head up, ho! hold your head high
And if they stare, just let them burn their eyes on your moving (movie?)
And if they shout, don't let it change a thing that you're doing
Hold your head up, ho! hold your head up, ho! hold your head high"
Great message, but the real power is in shouting the "ho!" as loudly as possible.
Listening to this got me thinking about our culture of relentless cheerleading and the numerous cliches and bits of folk wisdom that have developed around the ideas of not only powering through rough patches, but also daring to take risks. These little bon mots are ingrained early, and we never question them.
A couple of years ago I was working one of my many side gigs. This one had me grading essays written by sixth graders for a statewide literacy test in response to a prompt. Almost every paper offered some form of homespun wisdom, some variation on a theme, and I saw several of these sayings in more than one paper. Here are some of them:
1. You gotta be in it to win it.
2. You gotta risk it to get the biscuit.
3. History isn't made in the dark.
4. In life, you're the driver, not the passenger.
5. A closed mouth doesn't get fed.
6. If you're not getting better, you're getting worse.
7. Don't arrive at death safely.
8. If you're not living your dream, someone will pay you to help them live theirs.
9. Life is an uphill climb but if you look around the view is great.
10. Even a turtle has to stick his head out to get ahead.
11. Wishes are goals without action.
12. A lesson is a trophy for trying.
13. Don't live the What If lifestyle, live the Oh Well lifestyle.
15. You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take.
16. Sometimes wrong choices lead to the right places.
Sure -- there is some inspiration to be taken from these perspectives, and also in the fact that today's schoolchildren are adopting a can-do attitude at such a young age. But there's also the possibility that for a statewide test, these kids are just dredging up what they think school authorities want to hear, and are parroting back the blather they get from teachers, coaches, and parents at every turn. Perhaps they will internalize the motivation and positivity these sayings are meant to engender.
In repeating these sayings here, I am reminded that this moment is only fleeting. I can make the next one better.
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