Okay once more, the time has come to admit I am almost over the hill, the ants are marching on and Teddy Roosevelt is nowhere to be seen. However, I don’t plan to go without a fight – knowledge is a wonderful thing and the seeds have to be planted in order to keep growing!

Last week, Apple – the tech, not the fruit…although there could be some debate there…Offered up the newest phone in their line of gadgets and must have money maker$. Also making a huge Friday splash, albeit not a Bloody Sunday statement, was the Rock Band U2. The group has always been very vocal (yes, they sing I know) and visual, for human rights and huge generosity of the human spirit – so when they announced that their newest album…well, ah..song list? Would be available free of charge to all Apple ITunes subscribers it was also huge – well, to some of us.

This brings me to why I laughed this morning.  The lead story on CNN was on the outcry and outpouring of complaints, from young twigs that have not yet branched out into the tree of knowledge, which the almighty apple does not fall far from. They were wondering, what or who was a U2 and why were they in their playlist library…could not get the gravity of the situation you see.

I’m not sure which disturbed me more, the fact they had no clue who U2 was, or the almost backhanded gift of Orwellian proportions, allowing all subscribers to be given this freebie – which like some diseases, will keep on giving, since it can never be deleted, only disappearing into the cloud whereas we know, disaster reigns down – unless,of course you prefer to wear clothes when you use your password.

The Orwellian aspect aside, asking how can someone just farm out such generosity unsolicited is scary and makes me a little insecure…what’s next? But more upsetting, is that a footprint as large as Bono and U2 in humanitarian rights and support for the greater good of mankind, is not known to the generation building the world’s next foundation! Are there more cracks here than we want to admit? And no, I do not mean any torrents trying to pass off the music second hand.

It is hard enough to be in the mindset of a chick who still loves Dean Martin, and dreams of being on the car in a Whitesnake video, (and no…not Bowling for Soup thank you, although 1985 was a good year) while knowing I qualify for AARP. However, at least I know what I do, have lived and experienced what I have and still feel I have an importance. Still, what about the generation approaching me in the fast lane like an Eagle? Will they soar as high? Will they check into all the right hotels and live long and prosper with a peaceful easy feeling?

Guess you should never look a gift horse in the mouth, but even when the horse has a name, it is sad young people today have no clue who it is…especially in America.

Rock on!
Thank you U2 for not just the music, but a statement of life that should be remembered long after you are gone….and yes, I know you haven’t left the building.

Good-night Mr. Walters

All of us are constantly going somewhere. Every day, from the moment we open our eyes we move…until either the day or our bodies give up.  Forever moving towards something, away from something or determined to find something.

Growing up we had maps for travel, and Mom was our navigator… and although we did end up in some more colorful places along the way, she did give us direction, while Dad always got us there. Actually, that could be an analogy for life, as much as it was a trip to go fishing…funny, how life works out like that. Dad had control and drove, Mom offered what she could and gave direction getting us there safe, and I road in the back, confident they had my best interests in mind, and we’d get to a great place. Yup…in life and in travel,  direction is a necessity.

Recently, life has been resetting my compass, making True North next to impossible to find. I’ve been hit with emotional, financial and physical concerns, as well as some for  souls I care about, and in a word…I’ve felt lost. There is nothing more debilitating than being unable to deal with what affects you the most and the hardest. Loosing direction, either spiritually or physically, changes life forever, and the hope is that it won’t last and we will get onto a new course as soon as possible.

As I laid in bed before work during all of this turmoil in my life, I thought of Mom and her maps and smiled. As if I was talking to her, I spoke out loud, causing my dog to look  in my direction. “Mom, no one uses paper maps anymore, and unless you have a wireless signal you can’t get the directions you need…most people just program their GPS and don’t even look where they are going.” That was when the dog licked my face, and I thought about what I had said…after all, it was obvious the dog knew where I was going with it.

GPS? The few times my oldest daughter used hers, she got lost and we laughed…really…an unseen power figuring out our journey, showing the way and telling us to follow and trust. Then it hit me,  I left my driver’s seat and went over to the passenger’s seat, realizing that was where God needed me to be most of the time anyway. Indeed, he is after all, the unseen power already knowing my journey, and asking me to trust the plotted direction.

So, seeing not the electronic device or the spiritual being, I concentrated on the three simple letters G – P – S, and it became so obvious. Waking up each day, instead of facing the coming hours in worry and fear, I just need to set my GPS and trust, taking each step the best I can and believe in myself. Having a Good Heart, Pure intentions and a Spiritual soul will always put me on the right road, and only the reality check of not having turned it on, will be when I am truly lost, because after all, there is only one true direction if our intentions are as they should be, getting all of us where we are  suppose to be in the end.