It's Your Life. Live It!

Somewhere over West Texas …

On a flight headed back to Phoenix from New Orleans, I just finished watching “Fly Me to the Moon.” The fanciful romantic comedy is built around the events leading up to and during the historic moon landing of Apollo 11 on June 20, 1969. While the characters and some of the premises of the movie aren’t real, the landing certainly was. I found myself becoming quite emotional during the real events interspersed throughout the movie – the words of Neil Armstrong as he stepped off the LEM, the shots of Walter Cronkite, himself, fighting back tears during this history-making event. I was a child of eight-years-old when this event actually happened, but my parents – as millions of others – ensured we watched it live. I remember it to this day!

Images from the moon are seared in my memory

What struck me as I watched these scenes and remembered those times more than 55 years ago is the inescapable feeling that our people and our nation have failed to dream; to think big and make the impossible happen. There’s a line in the movie when Channing Tatum’s character says, “let’s make the dreams of one man come true.” At the end of the 1960s, it appeared as if President Kennedy’s vow to place a man on the moon before the decade was over wouldn’t happen.  American infighting over the Vietnam War, cultural revolution, and budget woes put the Apollo program in jeopardy. Whatever NASA really did to keep the program in the public eye – did they really strike a deal with Tang? (yes, I drank it!) – Americans rallied around this singular event.

We rallied once again in the wake of 9/11. But now, nearly 25 years later, we’ve lost our national mojo. Things are so divisive that even friendly neighbors are afraid to talk politics. Will it take another tragedy to pull us all together again?

I hope not. Instead, I hope that as a nation we can dream big again. We need to find something better to strive for; a goal that on the surface seems too impossible to achieve. 

But even if we can’t as a nation, we can do this as individuals. We’re often too quick to “settle” — to accept our lot in life and no longer push to learn, or to try new things. That’s particularly true as we get older. Many in our 55+ neighborhood talk fondly of times past – “the good old days.” Few people our age look forward. I’m determined to not go down that path. There’s still too much life ahead of me, and I’m daring to dream. 

What if…?

What are those dreams? That’s for another post! But in the meantime, what spurs me on is knowing that I’m looking to continue to make even more of a difference in my life. I’m taking steps to get there. Do you dare to join me?

©Judy and Greg Romano – All rights reserved.