I hate the song, “My Way.” But you do you.
There’s an old song called “My Way.” Frank Sinatra sings a version. In it, the singer is facing the end of his time here on Earth and satisfied he did it all his way. At this point it doesn’t matter what you think, sing your silly song. But life’s goal isn’t to live without regret if you’re a cool kid. It’s to contribute.
Folks think of life like a figure skating routine loaded with delicate twists and turns and you don’t want to fall down. To me, it’s more like a classroom full of mayhem.
How is one “good at life?”
I’m not sure one is always good at living. In my own case I kind of bob in and out of good times, or growth. When I’m taking care of danger and worried about survival, the growth stops until it’s safe to resume. I don’t regret looking after myself. But I do regret not learning more.
Key:
The person who likes this song thinks it’s okay and worthwhile to have your routine down and perform well for the judges. I’m willing to bet after they’re gone, they won’t care about what the judges think. If you’re anything like me and seeking a source for feelings of emptiness, it’s wrapped up in that.
The good news is contributing to the welfare and benefit of society squelches feelings of emptiness and replaces them with something better, purpose.
“The final curtain.”
While I can’t say I have lived a life free of mistakes, I can say I’ve learned something from them. And I don’t regret that. If I denied they ever happened, I’d have learned nothing. That’s a regret right there.
“My Way” is an end of life fantasy. If you’re about to go and it helps you out, whatever’s clever. But to me the guy sounds like a dick. I don’t want to listen to it at all, especially if my mind is on serious stuff.
Is it priorities? No, but it does start with “P.”
We all have to find what’s important to us but quite honestly I think that comes after seeing to some security at home. “Living without regret” ranks pretty low on the list of things when it’s all said and done. It just becomes “living.”
This is a privileged point of view in the song. The man feels entitled to a life like he described when in fact he was so lucky he couldn’t see other folks suffering or his impact on them. That’s pretty much privilege. It’s blinding.
Folks try to use religion to foster the “take care of each other” notion. That don’t work on me or people like me. But I will say taking care of each other is still worthwhile. We all have our song at the end. It would be a shame if your whole life’s message was essentially “no ragrets.” You should have stopped to learn from them. Everyone has them. I’d say you missed out.
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