GUEST BLOGGER RANDALL CUTHBERT

A guest blogger is one who finds their way onto a blog one way or another.

My guest blogger career to boost boomerpdx showed me what it takes.

Did I know Dr. Cuthbert would have what it takes?

I had my suspicions.

More than once I’ve offered space to people who have a good story to tell.

Instead, they tell it on Facebook, which is a shame because it gets lost in the scroll.

Sometimes I’m struck by the writing, the story, and the weight of it all.

But, instead of stepping up to a more permanent place as a guest blogger, they work with what they’ve got.

Maybe it’s the boomer-centric context of a blog named BoomerPdx?

Or, maybe it’s the association with something beyond their control?

Or, it’s boomer fear, which is a real thing for Millennials, Gen X, Gen Z, and any generation on the horizon: fear of death.

They don’t know it’s the fear of death, but it is the fear of death.

What they see is an aging generation sliding toward home plate with all of the scrapes, cuts, and bruises from running the bases.

The one thing all younger generations think?

“We won’t do it the way these old shits are doing it.”

Because that’s exactly what baby boomers said while their elders slid off the stage with their many characters and countless lives.

“Are You Done With Your Life?”

It may sound kind of macabre, but I am realizing, as I suspect many Boomers are at this age, that it may be appropriate to sit back and evaluate life’s accomplishments and see if there’s anything left to do.

Of course, much of that answer depends on what you wanted to accomplish in the first place. 

Think back to when you first came out of your post-HS graduation party hangover and sat down with a truly blank slate in front of you, probably for the first time. 

What did your list look like?

Home – Family – Spouse – Offspring

Escape – Identity – Value – Freedom

Profession – Status – Achievement – Wealth

Education – Knowledge – Wisdom – Teaching

Service – Sacrifice – Patriotism – Peace

The dedicated among us could probably pick one line and hold it for a lifetime. 

The rest of us probably jumped from one line to another a few times along the way, or made a collage of our lives by picking one from column A and two from Column B throughout. 

And a successful statement of life might look like this symbiosis of column D:

“I have achieved the peace and freedom needed to be content in life: I have achieved the wealth needed to be comfortable in my retirement: I have offspring that I am teaching to have a life as good or better than mine.”

So how did you do, fellow Boomers? 

Can you smile at your self-assessment, or did you make a Royal Dog’s Dinner out of your life? (sorry—watching too many Hallmark Xmas movies) 

(bonus points if you can name the movie)

Self Assessment

Looking at the table above, and below, I believe I’ve lapped the entire field.

Home – Family – Spouse – Offspring

Escape – Identity – Value – Freedom

Profession – Status – Achievement – Wealth

Education – Knowledge – Wisdom – Teaching

Service – Sacrifice – Patriotism – Peace

My evidence lies within the 3000+ posts on BoomerPdx.

Guest blogger Dr. Cuthbert is more succinct.