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Life’s adventures
I took my daughter to the park one day; she was about six years old. On our way to the swings I tripped over a sprinkler and fell onto the grass. She thought it was the funniest thing. She thought I was goofing around, so she fell down too. That set the tone, something clicked and even though we had been to the park many times, this time would be a special time.
We both laughed and rolled around in the grass for a few minutes then we ran to the swings. I pushed her a few times. Although she had learned to count years ago, she was in a phase where she counted everything so she made a game of it and counted the number of times I pushed her. Then it was on to the slide. We played and laughed and ran around the park that day until she wore herself out and it was time to go home. She had a wonderful time at the park that day and that night she jabbered excitedly about it to whoever would listen until she fell asleep.
A few days later we went to the park again and as we approached the swings I heard this tiny little frustrated voice: “No daddy, this is where you’re supposed to fall down.”
I looked around in time to see my daughter’s tiny, yet annoyed face. Then she walked up to me like a frustrated movie director and gave me a shove. And because she was only six, it wasn’t much of a shove. Nevertheless, I got the message. I was supposed to fall down. So I did. Then right on cue she fell down too.
She immediately sat up, something was wrong. It wasn’t as much fun as it was last time, I could see it on her face. She got to her feet and took my hand and it was off to the swings. She remembered the number of times that I had pushed her last time so that’s what we did… no more, no less. Next came the slide and then to the best of her ability she tried to recreate exactly that last trip to the park. Instead of playing and being spontaneous she had reached back to the last time and tried to re-live the last time. She didn’t understand that life just doesn’t work that way.
How many of you do that? Go to that same restaurant and order that same dish trying to recreate the magic you felt that first time. You go to that same bar and sit on the same stool probably next to the same people and order that same drink. You kids in school, you sit at the same area with the same people and talk about the same things. You pretend that its just as much fun, but deep down inside you know that it isn’t.
This is the first point I wanted to make.
You can’t orchestrate a good time. Usually the best times are spontaneous, so time spent trying to recreate a good time is usually a waste of time. It may be comfortable for you, but it will never be the same as the first time.
Don’t get me wrong, routine has its place and you can’t always be spontaneous. Most jobs are that way. I worked at a fast food place for years, nobody cared about spontaneity… they just wanted their burgers. If I had been twirling around back there trying to be colorful and spontaneous I would have gotten fired, and I needed that job. But your free time is yours and whenever you can, try something new. And if you are going to do that same thing again and again, do it with someone who has never been. Like... take a kid to Disneyland who has never seen it before. Sometimes seeing an old thing through new eyes can help you recapture that "first time magic" you are looking for. You can always climb back into your rut if that doesn’t work.
Did you know that on the top floor of one of the World Trade Towers there was an observation deck enclosed in glass? I remember they had every Manhattan landmark etched in the glass so that if you stood in the right spot and looked at the etching in the glass, you could locate the landmark. My memory is failing me right now, but I think you had to walk up a flight of stairs and you could stand on top of the building and see 50 miles of panoramic Manhattan. It was breath taking.
I used the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center for an additional reason. I have been there a dozen times. They had these giant elevators that moved about a hundred people all the way to the top of the 110 story building in just a couple of minutes. But what if I had been up there the day they were attacked and toppled. Yes, bad things can happen and they are going to happen to somebody… they always do. But these things are rare, so don’t be afraid. Live your life, but be responsible and don’t let one in a million disasters scare you away.
Did you know that there is a winding metal stairway snaking its way from the base of the Statue of Liberty all the way to the head? That if you are taller than 5’8” or so you are too tall to fit so if you want to take the stairs up you have to lean your head out of the spiraling stair case all the way to the top.
Once inside the statue the first things you notice is that the statue’s copper skin, which is about as thick as two pennies, is oxidized green on the outside but brown like a penny on the inside. At the top of the stairs is the head and the crown. The crown is an open, sort of round room about the size of your average bathroom with tiny cloudy plexi-glass windows through which you can barely see anything. So you don’t make the trip to the crown of the Statue of Liberty for the view.
There is only one Statue of Liberty, therefore only one experience in climbing it. I would have liked to have climbed up her arm to the torch but that’s been closed since 1916 when some German terrorist guys blew something up nearby.
I know the Statue of Liberty was closed for a while after 911 but it may have been reopened and the world trade center is gone so is the opportunity to stand on top of it.
And here is my second point. The opportunity to do these things won’t always be there and more importantly you won’t always be physically able to do them.
Be adventurous.
I don’t mean climb Mount Everest but why not take a hike. Quit looking at puppies on YouTube and go play with yours. If you don’t have one, go get one.
Have at least one “First” every year. First sky dive, first scuba dive, first trip to the beach (its hard to believe, but some people have never been to the ocean).
Did you know that for about $150 you could take an introductory flying lesson on an airplane? Flying is easy; now taking-off and landing… that’s hard. The pilot/instructor will get the plane in the air and then hand the controls over to you. I did it years ago, (it was only $50 back then).
Some of the happiest people I know are artists and musicians and they don’t even know they are happier than most because it’s their natural state. Learn to play an instrument, take a painting class… create something. Take an acting class even though you have no desire to be an actor or a singing class, even though you can’t sing a note outside of the shower.
I took yoga once. I used to laugh at people taking yoga, I thought it was a sissy sport until I tried it. Yoga is hard! I tried to ride a horse once, but the horse tried to eat me. I always wanted a motorcycle so I bought one and rode it for years. But you get hit by cars a lot on a motorcycle so I gave it up when I started having kids. I went snorkeling for the first time last year, the fish swam right up to me (nobody told me they did that… it kinda freaked me out). I once bought a calendar that had beautiful landscapes from across America. I decided that I wanted to see every one of them for myself, so I did. I made a list of all of the famous monuments that I wanted to see from the Eiffel tower in Paris to the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro and I did. It took years and a lot of saving, but I saw them all.
My kids and I are planning our next adventure; we want to see a professional baseball game in every one of its ballparks. God willing I will live long enough to do it.
What’s your next adventure?
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