I’ve started to mete out moments for myself where nothing is allowed to happen. It’s a bland hour of daydreaming,
or cuddling with the wife, or meandering down the road with a shaky excuse and not a care. The purposes for these moments are becoming more and more relevant as my life quickly fills up with elements of adulthood and non-nonsensical decisions. In other words, if I want to play keep-away with my maturity, it’s essential to practice youth.
This doesn’t mean I’m not growing up. As the Relient K song I’ve been listening to on repeat for three weeks says, “wave goodbye as I outgrow the shadow of Peter Pan,” and I agree–getting older and staying irresponsible is just that, and not at all who I wish to be. Rather, I strive for a very Walt Disney-ish, Bill Murray-like state of being, wherein I create my own path in life, do what I enjoy, make people laugh, have fun along the way, and be unafraid of the end as when I started. What 3-year-old worries about when he’ll die, and if he’s lived to his fullest? None? All all? Really? Then I want to be like that kid.
Getting old is okay. People don’t check your ID as much, and your behavior even less. I stay up late, eat cereal before bed, make out with a woman without existential crisis, and pay my bills. It’s a life– but I don’t let it stay just a life. I need to make sure I do more than coast. No contentedness with normality. Go hard, go long. YOLO.
Just, maybe, rest every once in a while. Take a Sabbath. Or just a bath. Not because you stink. Not just. You know what I mean.
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