“You’ve only got one life, so you might as well have fun!”
These philosophical words were spoken to me yesterday by a 4th grader in Mrs. Hernandez’s class at Suquamish Elementary. The response came to my question of, “What was the message of Captain Jack’s story?” You see, I go around to many elementary schools preaching the gospel according to Captain Jack. The 7-9 year old demographic is a strong one for his message and he’s fully aware of that responsibility. I’m pretty certain neither myself or Captain Jack could have been as eloquent as this young person (though Jack might argue that point).
This young person was spot on. You do only get one life, so why not have fun?
I had a meeting with a group of colleagues recently and when discussing objectives, I added, “have fun.” One of my group members stammered, “you know that’s right. We often forget that fun is important.” Here’s the deal…
If you’re not having fun, you need to stop doing what you’re doing and make a change. Sure, we often have to do things that we don’t enjoy or certainly characterize as “fun.” Yet those are individual situations. The overall role, activity, or job needs to be fun. Life is too short to waste it on not having fun.
If you have a job that you hate, go find a new one that you love quickly. We live in a world (since you’re reading this, my guess is that you’re not starving in a 3rd world country) that offers more opportunities than ever before to determine your destiny. What are you afraid of?
If you aren’t having fun in your volunteer work anymore, find a new one the revitalize yourself. Often, we can stay in a place like this too long and it’s time to let someone else take your spot. Go find another passion.
If the friends you’re spending most of your time with bring you down, find new friends. (Family is different. You need to discover and uncover ways to assure those relationships be fun) Hang around smart, well-rounded, and interesting people that will challenge you, help you grow, and most importantly that you enjoy being around. You don’t have time for naysayers and negative people in your life.
Life is hard enough as it is without forcing yourself to be unhappy. Life should be fun. It makes all the other “stuff” bearable and gives you purpose, reward, and a smile on your face. Now that’s something Captain Jack will extol!
© 2014 Dan Weedin. All Rights Reserved
