'We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing!'
Benjamin Franklin
In honor of the celebration of Independence Day this past week/weekend,
this post is brought to you and inspired by none other than sir Benjamin
Franklin (I don’t know if ‘sir is his formal title but let’s go with it). This past weekend I was able to spend some
quality time with one of my life long best friends. We have known each other
for decades and have been there for some of the best and worst moments as well
as a lot of moments in between. When we
were youthful versions of ourselves, we would hang out and play together,
enjoying the simplicity of life and all the enjoyment it had to offer. We spent the days doing
things kids did and we had a blast doing it… long walks around the block to
talk about life, scavenger hunts, dance parties, camp outs, etc. As we get
older it seems like we get further and further away from those moments.
This weekend, we got to spend a lot of time catching up,
after all, it is what friends do when they haven’t seen each other in a while.
We reminisced, we filled in the details since we last saw each other, and we had a few moments of self reflection as to how old we have become. But after all of that nonsense came the best part. We stopped thinking about life and our age and
instead we just spent some time playing together like little kids. And the cool part was it all came about on a whim.
About a week ago, I randomly asked Tiff if
she wanted to go on an adventure with me. I remember it was so out of the blue and I felt that feeling you get when you’re
a little kid and you wake up in the morning and going over and knock on your friend’s
door to see if they can come out to play. Grant it, as we get older it gets a
little bit harder to just ask your friends to play (especially when they live 8
hours away). Luckily though, it worked out and next thing we know we are
sitting at the mountain house with nowhere specific to be and nothing specific
to do. And it was awesome! We spent the weekend playing in vineyards, eating
delicious food, climbing rocks, hiking in the woods, sitting around a campfire, dancing,
singing, doing arts and crafts, having balloon fights, and there was even an
impromptu Easter egg hunt (you never know what kind of fun is in store at the mountain
house).
Typically, as I get older I wake up with a variety of body aches, but today I didn't mind one bit. My calves feel like jello, my voice is hoarse, and my stomach is sore from laughing
so hard. True signs of a great weekend.
I must admit, I am not a fan of this growing old thing and
it seems like each day that passes the older I get, weird right?!? This weekend
though, I got to be a kid again and It was a lot of fun. I think so often in
life we get so caught up in ‘adulting’ that we forget that it’s okay to go play
with our friends. Packing up the car
this morning gave me that same sad feeling I use to get when the street lights
would come on. The one that made you say,
‘aw man, I’ve got to go home now before I get in trouble.’ The only difference
is- when you’re a kid you can go outside and play again the next day but as you
get older, there usually is a lot more time before you get to see your friends
again. I guess the one thing this weekend taught me is that maybe I need to start
asking my friends to come out and play a little more often.
It’s okay to grow up, but don’t let yourself grow old!
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