Today we flew a kite.
Yesterday we splashed in the surf and collected sand dollars.
Before that we ran barefoot as fast as we could to keep the waves from catching us as they chased us up the shore, their overflowing swells and froth spilling almost all the way to the high-tide dunes behind us.
Kid stuff.
Stuff we all forgot.
Stuff we left behind in elementary school when the commands to sit still, shut up, and wait your turn were drilled into us.
Stuff we left behind when putting our heads down in college, rolling up our sleeves at work, and taking care of business with our families filled all our attention.
Stuff we left behind when we grew up.
But we’re done being grown ups. Being grown up is for the birds – punching a time clock, keeping up with the Joneses, doing what’s expected.
Enough is enough.
Seriously. That’s for the birds.
We’re here for the kid stuff. We’re here to play.
People should play more. Playing is good. It’s not more complicated than that. We all act like it is. Like we can’t take ten minutes out of our day to jump on a bike and race down a hill or fling a ball as far as we can throw it. Just to see what we’re capable of.
Because we think we know everything already. We think playing is a waste of time because we’ve got important adult things to do.
Not on your life.
The day you stop playing … the day you think you know it all and there’s nothing more to discover with the wide-eyed curiosity of youth … the day you give up on enjoying yourself just for the sake of delighting in being alive … is the day you stop living and start dying.
And we’re not ready for that. Not by a long shot.
That kind of thinking can go fly a kite.