Just Hangin’ Around

Graduation is here. It’s funny about living, planning, preparing for life, and ending up in an unknown place called Graduation Day. It doesn’t matter if you seventeen or seventy, high school seniors and senior citizens are pretty much in the same boat.

They are saying goodbye to friends, planning for life, scared to death and excited at the same time about their next step. Both are launching into a bigger world, stepping out of their comfort zone, or just hangin’ around waiting for the next best offer.

That offer for a high school senior is a scholarship for more learning or a small paying job. For the senior citizen, his next best offer might be the pearly gates.

For myself, I feel like the high school senior ready to start a new career. My career hasn’t yet taken off. It doesn’t mean I didn’t give it all the gusto and faith I had on the first go around. I gave my very best shot, but it never felt like I was in the right place at the right time. And, maybe I was. It seemed like God was always interrupting my plans. He was probably sparing me of a lot of stress and problems down the road.

I’ve always chomped at the bit and pulled the tether to its max.  My manuscript and script for a second book are in the hands of an agent and producer. This project could be big and it could be nothing. I’ve learned one thing in life. Don’t get too excited. It might not pan out. There might be something better behind another door.

Some of my senior citizen friends have had plenty of action during their life time and are just hanging around, loving life, smelling the roses, sleeping late, doing lunch, and hiking the mountains of Pagosa. I can’t even imagine that kind of life. I said to one of my friends, “You need a life. You have too much time on your hands. You’re doing a lot of playing.” Then I thought about it and said, “Maybe I’m the one with no life. I keep pushing for deadlines and new projects. You have time to live, I don’t.”

My friend from Arizona wants to ride the Zip line in Hawaii before she leaves this earth. That’s her life’s goal.  I asked her why she didn’t have an important goal like writing a bestseller? She looked at me as if to say, “Why would I want to do that?”

And there are some senior citizens who are hanging it up, and not sure what to do next. It’s like graduating from high school, but they call it retirement. Some have prepared for the next step, and others don’t have a clue about what’s next.

I remember hearing a high school principal say, “After graduation, some of the kids keep coming back the next year and hanging around the halls. They don’t know what to do with them selves. They wanted to leave school, teachers, and authority and now wished they could be back in school.”

I was listening to the commentators speculating on David Lettermen’s retirement. He was an American television host until his last show of 33 years. It was his final night on the set. Friends, fans and celebrities gave their last regards to him and his final show.  The producers were even giving away team jackets for those who would be sharing his last airing.

The biggest question they all asked Letterman was what he was going to do next? Larry King said when he retired he couldn’t stay retired and was fortunate to come back to the show. Jay Leno, television host is worth $350 million, his stand-up comedy tours in the USA could net him an extra $20 million.  He’s doing 200 shows a year. He’s not retiring, just changing jobs.

Analysts were giving their take on Lettermen’s retirement. One said he needed to keep busy, maybe even volunteer part time at a library. Another one said, “You’re not going to see Lettermen as a volunteer at a library.”  But we did catch him on television hanging around the Indy 500 race.  He owns a racecar and was already wearing his racing jacket and has moved into retirement.

Asking Letterman about his retirement, he said he might be like Johnny Carson and drop out of the spotlight.  Johnny Carson reigned over The Tonight Show for 30 straight years. He was considered the greatest television host of all time. He gave a break to Jerry Seinfeld and Drew Carey, who trembled in Johnny's presence and owe their entire careers to his couch.

I thought it was interesting to learn that Johnny Carson was also one of the most privately philanthropic celebrities in the history of Hollywood. A writer writes, “During his lifetime Johnny donated millions of dollars to various charities without seeking an ounce of personal attention or publicity. When Johnny died in 2005 he donated an unknown portion of his net worth to The Johnny Carson Foundation. No one, including the foundation itself, had any idea how large the donation was until 2010 when his lawyer and accountant were required to reveal the full amount in an IRS tax return. To everyone's amazement, Johnny Carson left a surprisingly massive fortune to charity.”

Final Brushstroke! A final word to the graduates of Pagosa High School. Don’t get too uptight about what you’re going to do next. People who have lived sixty years longer than you have are still wondering what to do with their lives.

Some are hangin’ out, some have hung it up and some are left hanging.  Most of us don’t have a clue.  Join the big world of Life. In school, out of school, in the spotlight or out of the spotlight, it’s how you live what you’ve been given and give what you have to give.