Some folk are scheduled to the max! I don’t mean that they are extremely busy, but that they have a day and time for every activity in which they engage. Monday supper is something chicken, Tuesday its beef, Wednesday is spaghetti day, Thursday is soup and salad, Friday . . . well, you get the point.
Are you so scheduled that you can’t throw in a wash on Tuesday, or refuse to shop for groceries any time other than Thursday evening? Do you never stay out past nine o’clock during the week, or because you must have your eight hours of beauty sleep and be to work by 8 am, you avoid socializing during the week?
Living in the moment, being spontaneous offers opportunities that you might never have unless you break free of your routine. To be sure, having a certain amount of routine can be valuable, but being married to that rigid routine, negates many experiences that spontaneity can offer.
Children have the ability to enjoy every moment; to respond positively to invitations regardless of the “what if’s.” Maybe that’s one of the reasons that the Bible tells us that we should be like children – open, accepting, free and untied to a set-in-cement routine.
In his book, "If I Get to Five", Frank Epstein, M.D. states: “Adults tend to learn a different lesson as we grow older – that our identity is gradually hardening into a form-fitting shell that defines who we are, what we believe, and what we can accomplish. And that’s the trap we all have to avoid, because once we believe we’re as grown up as we’ll ever get, it’s Game Over.”
One little boy in Dr. Epstein’s book had endured two arduous spinal operations and was scheduled for a third. This time, he was scared to death. He had begged his mother to buy him a rather pricey Batman costume, which she was previously reluctant to do. The morning of his surgery, they left their house early, went by the costume shop and she bought the Batman outfit for her son.
In the hospital’s parking lot, they hid behind their car and he changed into the costume. With renewed courage, he marched in to the hospital and toward the operating room, having left his fear behind. As he passed through the corridors, nurses, doctors and patients called out, “Hey Batman!” Those moments of spontaneity gave him the fortitude to face surgery number three bravely.
Sometimes you just have to step out of the ordinary, the routine, the safe or the expected, become someone different than the usual, and live life to the fullest, in the moment. Try it!
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