Skip to content

Posts tagged ‘Fun’

Nov 20

3 Comments

Surfs Up

“Life is all about timing… the unreachable becomes reachable, the unavailable become available, the unattainable… attainable. Have the patience, wait it out. It’s all about timing.” – Stacey Charter

“It's the constant and determined effort that breaks down all resistance, sweeps away all obstacles.” - Claude M. Bristol

“It’s the constant and determined effort that breaks down all resistance, sweeps away all obstacles.” – Claude M. Bristol

Going against the waves, waiting for the right one to roll in, the surfer patiently waits for the right wave to stand for the victory of riding the wave, if but only for a moment. And when the moment is complete, turning back into the waves to start all over again.

Resilience, timing, patience, opportunity, stand, fall, get back up, learn, grow, repeat. Surfs Up – time to ride the waves of your life.

Aug 10

5 Comments

Party Animals

“We do not quit playing because we grow old, we grow old because we quit playing.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

Another day – let’s party!

"Fun is good." - Dr. Seuss

“Fun is good.” – Dr. Seuss

Jul 13

4 Comments

Cherry On Top

“Life does not accommodate you, it shatters you. It is meant to, and it couldn’t do it better. Every seed destroys its container or else there would be no fruition.”
– Florida Scott-Maxwell

Fruition – the satisfaction that comes from completion. The sweet taste of the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae. The new tree was planted about 5 feet from where the 50 year old silver maple was taken down a few months ago. A “baby” sugar maple in its place.

Lots of steps to get to this final touch. A new start from a last step. And 50 years from today, someone will be looking up at the towering sugar maple in appreciation as much as the girls and I celebrate the birth of its beauty and potential today.

Jun 26

4 Comments

Be Prepared

“Don’t waste life in doubts and fears; spend yourself on the work before you, well assured that the right performance of this hour’s duties will be the best preparation for the hours and ages that will follow it.” –  Ralph Waldo Emerson

About six weeks ago I wrote about the tree limb falling in the middle of the night, leaving my backyard a “blank canvas” when my 60 year old tree had to be cut down. Well, the mourning from the tree funeral is over and this week I am preparing to paint the “blank canvas.”

So the first “paint brushes” swept the canvas tonight. My nephew Mark and brother John figured out how the rear drive rototiller worked (without losing a limb). The hardware store staff where I rented it didn’t quite know how to operate it since it was a new model (made in Italy, of course, great art). My niece Jenna helped yesterday with the weeds and moving mulch and my other niece Emily cut the grass.

Next steps of preparation to fruition – topsoil gets delivered tomorrow afternoon, sod on Friday and new tree hunting on Saturday. So, a new beginning blooming from preparation, planning, hard work and a wonderful family willing to be paint brushes with me.

“Character is what emerges from all the little things you were too busy to do yesterday, but did anyway,” - Mignon McLaughlin

“Character is what emerges from all the little things you were too busy to do yesterday, but did anyway,” – Mignon McLaughlin

Jun 23

7 Comments

Start + Finish = Win

“To finish the moment, to find the journey’s end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Still drying out

Still drying out

I am not the fastest runner. I am not the slowest runner. I run races throughout the year (even in winter) for fun, to participate, to compete with me, to stay in shape.

Today, I ran the William O’Brien 10.5 mile trail run. I am going to rename it the “What was I thinking run?” or “Let’s run on a rollercoater through the woods” run. It seemed like a good idea when I signed up. Starting, never a problem.

Within a half mile, we had to run through a large puddle ankle deep, no way around it. Tentatively tip toeing, as if we could walk on water if we went through gingerly. Soggy wet feet until mile six. Each new corner, another hill – up and down, more up than down. Mentally slicing the run into chunks – mile 7, only a 5k left; mile 9, only 1.5 mile; mile 10, almost there and oh that’s right the unavoidable puddle that didn’t dry up while I was out on running the rollercoaster.

Sprinting the last quarter mile as if I did the entire run, the finish line in sight and an irreplaceable feeling of accomplishment of finishing a challenging journey. Running through the puddles, not around. Forging the hills, running and many times walking. Dodging holes that would break an ankle. All while the birds sang and the rest of nature watched, laughing.

It’s easy to start. The winning comes when we start AND finish – a run, a project, a promise. Start, finish, well done.

May 21

3 Comments

Laugh, A Lot

“At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.” – Jean Huiston

May 1

7 Comments

Explore

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”  – Mark Twain

While doing my morning routine, I glanced out the window to discover Lily was scaling the limb of the tree that fell last week. “Explore” immediately came to mind. Explore your world everyday.

"Curiosity is one of the great secrets of happiness." - Bryant H. McGill

"Curiosity is one of the great secrets of happiness." - Bryant H. McGill

Apr 29

7 Comments

Play All Week Long

“The master of the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which; he simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both.” – Buddha

Cast away those Sunday night blues and look at this week in a new light. Remember the playfulness of the weekend and carry that through the rest of the week. Try it for one week. Just one. Take back those five days that we trade away waiting on the weekend.

“Play is the exultation of the possible.” - Martin Buber

“Play is the exultation of the possible.” - Martin Buber

Play hard, look up and forward to the possibilities.

“Play with life, laugh with life, dance lightly with life, and smile at the riddles of life, knowing that life's only true lessons are writ small in the margin.” - Jonathan Lochwood Huie

“Play with life, laugh with life, dance lightly with life, and smile at the riddles of life, knowing that life's only true lessons are writ small in the margin.” - Jonathan Lochwood Huie

Apr 24

9 Comments

Let Your Puppy Out

“The ability to retain a child’s view of the world with at the same time a mature understanding of what it means to retain it, is extremely rare – and a person who has these qualities is likely to be able to contribute something really important to our thinking.” – Mortimer Jerome Adler

It’s inside all of us – that enthusiasm of childhood (puppyhood for some of our friends). Rediscover the simple joy and awe of youth and carry it with you no matter what your age. Let your “puppy attitude” out to play in the world. Be a gift.

“If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older.” - Tom Stoppard

“If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older.” - Tom Stoppard

"All of us have moments in our childhood where we come alive for the first time. And we go back to those moments and think, this is when I became myself." - Rita Dove

"All of us have moments in our childhood where we come alive for the first time. And we go back to those moments and think, this is when I became myself." - Rita Dove

“To a young heart everything is fun.” - Charles Dickens

“To a young heart everything is fun.” - Charles Dickens

Mar 27

5 Comments

“Regular” Spontaneity

There’s comfort in routine. While it can add stability and ground us, routine can also stall and numb our senses. Be spontaneous regularly – I can’t say when or where because that wouldn’t be spontaneous now would it. Try something new – in small, medium and large ways.

A simple shift now and then to keep your days fresh and you feeling refreshed. Be curious, dance without music (alone might be a good idea), try a different restaurant, skip through the office, play hopscotch in the parking lot, take a last minute trip (Vegas a few weeks ago with my parents and brother), start a new hobby (friends started winemaking) or fly a kite (saw that on our run today). Lily highly recommends putting your head out the window to feel the exhilaration of the wind in your face. And while you can be spontaneous by yourself, it’s fun to bring someone along for the ride, break out of the routine and to see the world in a new light.

Lily enjoying a little breeze in her face outside the car window.

Lily enjoying a little breeze in her face outside the car window.

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »