Recently Professor Randy Pausch died after becoming famous for giving a speech called "The Last Lecture". I began to wonder what I would say to the world (or my 3 readers) if I knew it would be the very last blog I would ever write, the first thing that came to my mind was "HAVE MORE FUN!".
I would want to tell people to let go & have lots of fun because I am regretting all the chances to be crazy that I missed due to fear. Fear of looking silly, or being wrong, or getting lost, or getting hurt, or.......on & on it goes.
I would want to tell Christians especially, to lighten up & find the humor & freedom that God is full of & wants us to wallow in everyday. I know now that he laughs much more than I ever imagined. I know now that he would not have been mad at me if I had gone to my school proms & dances. ( I grew up in a strict tradition that included no dancing .Dancing could lead to sex & we know he hates that!:) He would not have been dissappointed with me if I read a book that was not all about Him. He even enjoys all kinds of music! Duh!
I would tell my readers to take risks, spend time with little kids & old people, go to the beach on a Sunday even if it means missing church. Try out your old dreams. What did you say you wanted to be when you were 8? It could still be do-able. Stick your tongue out if you feel like it. Let someone else get credit for your work; your time will come. Write the book, record the song, paint the picture, dance the dance. Worship with abandon, why not?
I would want to tell people to let go & have lots of fun because I am regretting all the chances to be crazy that I missed due to fear. Fear of looking silly, or being wrong, or getting lost, or getting hurt, or.......on & on it goes.
I would want to tell Christians especially, to lighten up & find the humor & freedom that God is full of & wants us to wallow in everyday. I know now that he laughs much more than I ever imagined. I know now that he would not have been mad at me if I had gone to my school proms & dances. ( I grew up in a strict tradition that included no dancing .Dancing could lead to sex & we know he hates that!:) He would not have been dissappointed with me if I read a book that was not all about Him. He even enjoys all kinds of music! Duh!
I would tell my readers to take risks, spend time with little kids & old people, go to the beach on a Sunday even if it means missing church. Try out your old dreams. What did you say you wanted to be when you were 8? It could still be do-able. Stick your tongue out if you feel like it. Let someone else get credit for your work; your time will come. Write the book, record the song, paint the picture, dance the dance. Worship with abandon, why not?
Seriously, we have taken ourselves so seriously that we have been robbed of many amazing adventures.
I do not want to be twenty again, but if I were, it would look very different I think. I would wear more spagetti straps & do more swimming. I would laugh louder & cry more freely. I would risk entering new atmospheres instead of fearing them. I would affect them instead of being convinced that they would contaminate me.
My last blog would encourage everyone to go ahead & laugh at yourself & invite others to join you. It would say to jump into the ocean & allow it to throw you back up to the shore. Laugh at the taste of salt water & get used to sand in unseen places. In case you don't recognize them, the sand eaters up above are my friends Dano, Dave, Bob & my husband Curt! I only did it once!
I do not want to be twenty again, but if I were, it would look very different I think. I would wear more spagetti straps & do more swimming. I would laugh louder & cry more freely. I would risk entering new atmospheres instead of fearing them. I would affect them instead of being convinced that they would contaminate me.
My last blog would encourage everyone to go ahead & laugh at yourself & invite others to join you. It would say to jump into the ocean & allow it to throw you back up to the shore. Laugh at the taste of salt water & get used to sand in unseen places. In case you don't recognize them, the sand eaters up above are my friends Dano, Dave, Bob & my husband Curt! I only did it once!
I suppose I must take my own advice and comment too!! :)
ReplyDeleteA lovely post-- and so very true! My dad just sent me the You Tube link to Randy's lecture but I've yet to watch it. I think I'll go do that now!
I'd also like to know more about your incredibly handsome and available sons. Not for me of course, but for several of my incredibly beautiful and available friends. Maybe you could blog about them?
Hmm Lesley,
ReplyDeleteI would love to blog/brag about them...just not too sure how they would feel about that. They are 22 & 25 and I am so full of stories about them, but don't think they would really appreciate being written about. Of course they don't know about this site so.. hmm? Nah, better think about that! :)
Thanks for stopping by my blog, B.S. :) (sorry, I think that's funny...lol). I'll have to bookmark yours and stop by once in a while too!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you were restricted a lot as a kid, whether it was pressure from family or yourself or whatever. I had strict parents, but thank goodness the humor was always there. I laugh at myself all day long! It's good advice. I've also decided (now that I'm 42) that I really don't care what anyone thinks about what I'm wearing, or how I wear my hair, or any of that stuff. Seriously, does any of that crap really matter? I think not! I guess it's all feeling magnified now because my teenage daughter DOES care so much. It funny, the stages we go through in life.
Hi, Brenda Susan! Thanks so much for the visit; always nice to get new visitors, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteYour blogs and thoughts are delightful. You're probably few years younger than me, but we're both California girls, have adult children and are women who have grown both in wisdom and wonder. Lucky us!
Your thoughts about your "last blog" really reflect the evolution that comes with age. Have more fun! Don't take ourselves too seriously. Life is short. Dance spontaneously.
I really love "try out your old dreams." I studied ballet for about 10 years as a kid, and lately I've been thinking that it would be cool to take an adult ballet class and get back to the barre. I may just do that!
Rose, Thanks for your comment, I am 53. Re: Going back to old dreams;Go for it! I have a close friend who wanted to be a pro golfer as a young man, but chose to follow ministry instead & was/is a great success in the ministry. But these past 2 years he has returned to the first dream & is on an exciting quest to see his dream happen. He is a pro-golfer now on tour toward the big one!
ReplyDeleteThat's a great post, Brenda Susan, and so much truth there. I think in my own life I've come to realize that I have taken myself waaay too seriously. Sometimes I just have to smile at being *50*.
ReplyDelete