What the 1980's are teaching us about our future

What is going on with all this retro stuff that America is going crazy with? Everywhere you look, someone is trying to kick it old school and go back in time. There is the 1980's-ET-sythesizer-inspired Stranger Things show on Netflix (which is awesome, by the way) that pretty much everyone I know who graduated high school in the 1980's is gaga about. The newer Progressive insurance commercials are all now filmed as retro 1970's spots. Then there are movies - how many remakes of older movies are we gonna see? Hello Ghostbusters and Poltergeist, not to mention War Games, Commando, and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids which are just a few that are in the process of being remade.

And oh my word, there are the clothing and music styles. The 1980's absolutely haunt me at times, not because it was such a bad decade but because my style was so pitiful. I had hair then, amazing blonde hair with a natural wave to it. But I parted that hair down the middle and heavily hair sprayed it, preserving for decades horrific yearbook images that I still can't escape.

And yes, I owned and often wore a pair of acid washed jeans. I even tight rolled them at the bottom as I paired them with my favorite Stan Smith Adidas shoes. And yes, my musical tastes were often driven by synthesizers, although I did buck the trend by dabbling in some punk rock music and what became known as early alternative rock. Sounds and looks a lot like today, huh?

Why do find ourselves coming to roost in the nostalgia of the past so often? When we get all caught up in reminiscing about how amazing the past was, what we are doing is looking negatively at our NOW while believing that we really had it figured out in our PAST. And there is nothing wrong with reveling in the past, as long as you don't convince yourself that nothing in the future could ever be better. If we can't do that, then we are guilty of violating the golden rule of history: Learn from it or you are doomed to repeat it.

Nostalgia should fuel our desire to do greater things, not keep up mired in mediocrity. I sincerely believe that many of us are paralyzed by the shrines of the past that we so readily build. But what if we could take what the past has taught us and use it to propel us to make our future memories better than what history could ever teach us? Can we even do this?

God's word says that we can. Psalm 119:92-93 tells us, "If Your instruction had not been my delight, I would have died in my affliction. I will never forget Your precepts, for You have given me life through them." The guy who wrote this is happily reminded just how much he has learned from the past and how grateful he is that what God had formulated in eternity had changed the course of his life in the future. The past can be awesome, but only if it causes us to go further and deeper and greater into the future. If not, then all we are left with are just some stale memories and an inability to move beyond the equivalent of high school greatness.

Brush the dust off of your letter jacket and put your cassette player away. Stop waiting for MTV to actually play music videos again. What God has in mind for your future could be amazing if you will only let Him have his way.

You don't need a license to drive

The artist known as Prince just died. It's all over the news and his music is basically on every station. While not necessarily a fan of Prince - I have never owned nor downloaded any of his music - I do have a deep appreciation for the artist that he was. I'm not ashamed to admit that last night in the car is was jamming to "Little Red Corvette" and "Let's Go Crazy" when it came on the radio. When you hear brilliance, you must stop to appreciate it.

Another no-as-famous person died yesterday as well. Chyna, of WWE fame, passed away, leaving behind a legacy for female wrestlers that she pretty much started on her own. Back in the day, I used to watch wrestling when it wasn't the trashy show that it is now. Chyna was just coming on the scene then and, while I didn't always buy the theatrics, I did appreciate the fact that a woman could body slam a man and make him look silly. When someone busts boundaries wide open, you have to stop and admire, even if it's an arena (pardon the pun) that you don't necessarily like.

Why do so many people react almost viscerally when those who are loaded with talent and vision are gone from our presence seemingly too soon? I believe it's because these people leave a void in our lives that we don't believe can be adequately filled by someone else. While the movers and the shakers of this world have feelings and often deal with the same struggles as you and me, they also have something that makes them stand out - drive.

Drive is what you call initiative on steroids. It's what keeps you up at night thinking about how tomorrow is going to be better today. Drive won't necessarily give you better grades on your tests, a cooler car, or a nicer house, but it will allow you to push boundaries that many will think impossible to eclipse.

As a society, we adore and sometimes detest people with drive. But we also tend to do something else that is rather self-deprecating. As hold these people in higher esteem, at the same time we believe that there is no way we could ever achieve the same kinds of success that they did. That had IT and we don't, or so we convince ourselves. When we see ourselves that way, we automatically limit ourselves and preapprove mediocrity as a way of life.

Don't get me wrong - there are people out there who have achieved much more than you and I could ever do, whether it be because of the financial backing that they have, freakish athletic ability, or a brain that is wired for superior smarts. Yet drive is not limited to those with "elite" skills. Drive is something that we all have within us, we just have to be unafraid to release the horses and let them run.

Ask yourself this: What is your passion? You know, what is the one thing that, if you could do it, you would want to invest all of your energy and time in for as long as you could? Your passion is what drives you, and for many we have allowed life's circumstances to dictate where we can and cannot allow our drive to take us. Some of that is beyond our control, yet more often than not we limit ourselves.

Jesus had drive. It was to seek and save the lost, drawing all men and women to His Father, God. The apostle Paul had drive. His was to proclaim the good news of Jesus across the Asian continent, planting churches all along the way. You, too, have a drive that God has put into your heart. It may not make you into a famous musician or professional wrestler, but once you allow that drive out of the barn you can be assured that God will use it to change the world around you.