I believe very strongly in the saying “young at heart.” No matter your age, you really are only as old as you want to be and I think it’s very healthy to be able to flip on the “kid switch” whenever adult life just becomes too much. If you take life too seriously it will pass you by and you’ll never know what you missed. There are a great number of things I enjoy that always make me feel young and let my kid self shine through. Having a dance party all by myself with the last dance scene in Footloose playing, for example, is a blast, makes me laugh, gets my adrenalin going, and if you saw it happening it would just look plain goofy.
I’m also a huge fan of singing at the top of my lungs in the car, music blaring, seat dancing to my heart’s content, and I do not care who can hear me at the stoplight. During many road trips growing up, my sister, mom, and I would sing oldies, soundtracks, Michael Jackson, it was always a fantastic way to pass the time and continues to be. Sure, a little NPR on any road trip is a great distraction for long stretches of I-95 but it can’t beat a good old-fashioned sing along.
Growing up in a relatively rural area of western Maryland, my friends and I had all sorts of ways to keep from getting bored. Most of them involved driving from house to house, exploring the back country roads, playing pool, and sometimes a few harmless prank jokes. I don’t know anyone whose house was not toilet papered at one point; it wasn’t to be mean, it’s just what kids did. There may have been a couple other stunts we pulled, but for right now they’re escaping me…
At some point we all cross the line into adulthood which is really just a fine balance of learning when to be responsible and remembering how to still have fun. We’re probably all most young at heart with our friends. Game nights, dance nights, days on the water, cornhole and Frisbee in the backyard, good friends will always keep you young. I feel very lucky to have amazing friends. They’re talented, smart, diverse, confident, and hilarious. We entertain each other for hours and sometimes we get each other into a little bit of “innocent” trouble. You know the trick where you secretly unscrew the lid to the salt and pepper and then set the lid back on so some poor unsuspecting person dumps the entire jar on their food? That’s one of my friends. I was recently torn between being a kid and being responsible (notice I did not say “an adult”) as I watched my friend unscrew the lids on a couple jars. I was shaking my head and grinning at the same time. When another friend reached for the salt, we all came to the rescue shouting and laughing simultaneously saving her from having a plate of over-salted French fries.
Parents say all the time how quickly children grow up—I think it’s all a matter of who your friends are. I personally would like to stay as young as possible and I count on my friends to help make that happen. But, note to self, double check the lid on the salt and pepper.
