Never Grow Up

I am not going to grow up. This is a line I have told numerous people. Sure I am getting old, but there is still a kid in me that I want to keep quite active. Jesus even said in his teachings that you need to be like a child to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. I am sure he is referring to the way we approach our belief in Him, but I still like the way it sounds. Why grow up to the point you forget about having fun and enjoying life? A lot of folks have gotten to this point.

There was a man today that gave a press conference in tears as he has come to a point where he feels he can no longer play the game he loves. The fellow had gray hair and is beginning to show his age, but I still see a boy inside that man's body. He has spent the last several years wearing a green and gold football jersey with the number 4 boldly on front and back, and he performed with a passion. The man acted as if he truly enjoyed being on the gridiron, and he played with emotion and with the same fervor as a youngster playing for the pure fun of it. It didn't seem like a job to him, as it did to a lot of his colleagues. And in his retirement press conference, he cried in a way similar to how kids respond when a fun event is done before they are ready for it to be.

However, the wonderful thing about kids is how quick they can find something else to enjoy. Sure, football is over for Brett Favre, and he told reporters today that he had no plans for doing anything else, but like most kids, I am sure he will find something else rather quickly to enjoy doing. And the fun for him may be simply riding a tractor down on a farm in Mississippi. During the break I had last summer as a teacher, I found pure delight in just going back to the family farm and getting on the tractor to go mow the pasture. I felt like a kid escaping the normal routine.

The boy (and old man) in me still enjoys fishing, playing ball, camping with friends, reading a story, watching a movie, exploring the world, driving my ATV in a rather fast manner, and just talking a lot. But, as a person who has to work and provide for the family, I can still have fun with my job in the library, exploring the material on the shelves and sharing them with others. Finding ways to have fun on the jobs and in the things we must do as adults could be the key to staying like a child. A lot of adults simply can't do this. Brett Favre did, and I have a feeling he will continue.