A few years ago, I heard a cool song by Chris Ledoux called, “Life is a Highway.” I have a saying pinned on the bulletin board in my office that says, “The highways of life are full of flat squirrels who couldn’t make up their minds.” These seem to go with the adage “the highway of life”.
What is it about life and highways?
Highways take us places.
Maybe we are being told that life should take us places too.
In the Ledoux song, he says “I’m gonna ride it all night long”, which I believe means he’s not going to take it for granted and that he will live it to its fullest. The flat squirrels’ analogy says we should take life seriously enough to decide where we want to go, or life will mow us down.
I guess that life really is a highway because a well-lived and full life can take us places we may never have imagined.
If you are riding the highway all night long, go full speed and enjoy the journey.
If you are the squirrel who doesn’t know which path to take, it doesn’t matter. Just go! You don’t always have to have a plan. Have an idea and go with it!
I’ve got a pretty good life. I have great friends, a job that doesn’t suck and where I’m respected, and family that cares about each other, when we are not driving each other insane. I have a good brain and a decent heart, both of which work better when they aren’t overlapping, but working in harmony.
My life is not what I had planned when I was in my formative years. When I was 19 or so, I wanted to get married and have twelve kids! Then I worked in a children’s home as a cottage parent to teenaged girls. I quickly realized that you can’t get kids from the cute stage to adulthood without passing through the teen years. So, I re-considered my life plan and thought, ‘not no, but HELL no’!
I don’t think I got serious about my life until I reached 30. I had a good job with a growing company when I decided to quit and finish my bachelor’s degree. My company let me work part-time while I finished school and offered me a better job when I got my degree. That job morphed into a promotion, that morphed into a consulting gig, that morphed into more new and exciting opportunities. In the process I’ve traveled the world, met a lot of great people, and lived a terrific life. My life has probably been better because it never followed my script. When I saw a highway that led to an opportunity, even if it seemed crazy at the time, I would GO!
Now that I’m less formative and more retirement, it seems harder to just GO! The uncertainty of Social Security, Medicare and other tax programs I’ve paid into all my working life doesn’t make deciding easier. I’ve vacillated between retiring early (this year) or waiting until I’m eligible for full retirement. The monetary difference in benefits, depending on my age and dates of retirement are significant. The thing is, I don’t want to wait until I’m sixty-six to retire. My best friend retired last year, and my evil twin is retiring next year. I don’t want to be left out of playtime.
So, I’m taking my own advice! Oh, I’m still going to have a plan. And I’ll lose a little money on the front end. I will wait until I’m sixty-five so I can get Medicare (assuming it’s still around and available) and then make my exit. That gives me about eighteen months to make it all happen. And, if my plan doesn’t keep to the script, I’ll deal with it. I’m going to ride this highway just as fast and as far as I can.
kathryndstokes 