(Dang, my birthday’s coming and I’m feeling cynical…)
We start with Dr. Spock or a child “expert”
We new mothers, scared, confused about
Developmental stages of our babies
Sleep through the night
Walk by age (fill in the blanks)
Potty trained no later than (fill in the blanks)
Playing well with others
In the supermarket
We buy our children their first manuals:
Teen magazines
Boys avidly reading body building ones
Girls poring over hairstyles and makeup
Boys to eat protein and develop strong bodies
Girls to eat lettuce and look like little boys
Here comes the bride is next
How to have the perfect wedding
When the cost of one day’s ritual
Would do better as a down payment
On a house
A dream house
In the right kind of neighborhood
So the next manual details
The perfect house
The perfect lawn
(Get rid of the unsightly dandelions
Despite their being an important
Immune system herb
That our parents and grandparents
Used to make healthy wine and salads
Before the invention of herbicides)
Career manuals are now available for
Both women and men
How to be successful
(i.e., earn lots of money)
Before the age of forty
Because one should have
A huge 401K by age 50
To shelter us from the storm
And so it goes
Until old age
Is there a manual for that?
What happens to those who skipped
A few of the important milestones?
For those of us who bought into the 60’s disdain for money?
No house in a good neighborhood
To sell for the retirement condo
No 401K, bottomless savings
Shares and stocks and bonds
In short, an unsuccessful life
According to the standards of today
Doesn’t matter if we tried to be kind
Or gave our last dollar away to the homeless
The measure of success shows
When we click into our online accounts
So for those of us floundering
Without the manual that makes sense
For the unsuccessful
We need to write our own
“How To Be Unsuccessful In Old Age”
“Do What You Love, The Money Will NOT Follow”
Success, can it be defined by:
How many strangers did you hurt while climbing?
How many strangers did you help while climbing?
My mantra for success will never change
Despite their being successful
The Beatles said it best:
“And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love you make”
How I hope that is true…
© 2015 ViataMaja
