I think as adults we sometimes get so caught up in working and getting ahead in life that we loose sight of having fun...
As a child I remember the joy of going outside to play and having fun... for me the window of opportunity for such activities started to close when I had to start being more responsible with school work and extracurricular sport activities coupled with music lessons (piano and later guitar)... luckily I enjoyed all of the activities I was involved with as well as the majority of my academic pursuits with the exception of a few subjects and/or the people involved in teaching them.
From about the age of three or four water was the main ingredient in my fun and frolics in our swimming pool and eventually around age six the ocean captured my spirit...
I participated in a Waimea surfing event in 1974... I did not do as well as I hoped and only lasted through round 1 but was proud to have been a part of it none the less... it subsequently become the Quicksilver event honoring Eddie Aikau and debuted in 1986 nine years after he died in a boating accident... his younger brother Clyde Aikau won that year... I've been considering recently that perhaps I should move on from surfing...but reconsidered that perhaps the North Shore is not the most safe and practical ride for me and will likely confine myself to the waves on Waikiki as long as I can still stand up and enjoy surfing just for the fun of it.
I've usually always experienced an exhilarating rush in my endeavors except once... I took classes to learn how to hang glide and quite simply lost my nerve when it was time to take my first leap over Makapu'u Beach....
It was something that I spent years working up the courage to do but I never regretted changing my mind at the last minute.
As much as I wanted to see and feel the experience first hand I had a friend who at the time gave helicopter tours of the island and have always been grateful for the birds eye view of those experiences.
At around the same time I was a certified diver... I just did a recertification course last year for scuba diving... There are some tours that will give you a quickie course with a shallow water dive but if you plan to do a lot of diving you really should be certified... one of my mantras has always been "Better Safe Than Sorry!"
Probably one of the most daring things I've participated in was running with the bulls in Pamplona Spain during the Fiesta de San Fermin... it really was a rush and went faster than I expected from the couple practice runs I had taken in preparation (it only takes about 3 minutes).... If you would like to try it for yourself the Fiesta runs from 7-14 July with a run every morning at 8:00 am ... there is no charge but make sure you show up around 6:30 in the morning... with a good nights sleep and are not hungover or intoxicated.... If it's not your thing you can show up early to get a place behind the barricades to observe.
Among my other favorite ways to have fun... I always love... Take dive into the deep end of a pool!
Practice the skills learned from gymnastics...
I hope I'll always love skiing...
and tennis...
and racquetball...
and I always love a good game of croquet...
Or even if it's just a quiet walk on the beach... it's important to have fun in life and for just a moment or two not care who is watching or what anyone else thinks... a few of the most important things I've learned in life is that you can't turn your back on the past or you are destined to revisit it... and it's not a matter of how much money you have in the bank but how well you live your life... and if you are not happy with your life you are not a success... and finally.... you have to push yourself to get where you want to be.
See you next week... now go out and have some fun!
