Don’t Forget to Have Fun!

Don’t forget to have fun!

Seems easy enough.

I have the cutest little grand-girl who is an explosion of emotion, laughter, and silly dances. She is fearless when she “cowabungas” into the pool. But she has hated boating, and that is extremely unfortunate because we are a “boating family.”

This little grand-girl has cried for the past several years every time we say we are going boating. She doesn’t like loud noises or bumpy boat rides.

Until this summer!

The first time we planned to take the family out for boating, she spent the whole day saying she wasn’t going and begging her mom to “text someone” so she could stay behind. When the family stood on the dock, the drama was real. Little Goldilocks wasn’t happy, and neither were those who spent the day listening to her boating revolt.

Against her protests, the family got in the boat. As we started to get up to speed, I convinced her to sit on my lap. Then, I tried to convince her that the waves were like a fun rollercoaster ride. Every time the boat bounced, I yelled, “Wee!” And I sang “Rollercoaster.” She wasn’t really buying it.

Then we stopped in the middle of the lake and blew up the new, family-sized floating raft. Or should I say, the new stage? Little sis and big sis ran and slid off of the raft. They did cartwheels into the water. They did summersaults in the middle of the lake!

No going in circles dragging people in tubes. No fast accelerations because someone behind the boat hollered, “Hit it!” And no quick turns to go back to pick up a fallen wakeboarder.

Just fun on a huge floating raft in the middle of the lake.

We ate dinner on the boat and watched the sunset. As we headed back to the marina, the sunset turned the water to shades of pink, and Goldilocks sat in my lap at the front of the boat again. We were going fast to beat the darkness, so I decided to distract her. Big planes took off from the nearby airport and flew low over the lake. I started to wave at the planes and say, “Bye! Have a nice trip!” Goldilocks added, “Don’t forget to have fun!”

Bye! Have a nice trip! Don’t forget to have fun!

I’ve taken trips and gone on vacations where I sometimes forgot to have fun.

I’ve gone through life and forgotten to have fun.

Last weekend, when our family was boating, my little grand-girl said, “Boating is my LIFE!” She remembered – or learned – to have fun.

Sometimes, our perspective needs to change. The boat didn’t change. The speed of the boat didn’t change. The people in the boat didn’t change.

A perspective changed.

A few weeks ago, I got in a funk and stayed there for several days. If you know me well, you know I don’t often get in a funk, and if I do, it only lasts for hours—not days. This time, it was days.

And then my perspective changed.

I want to be like my grand-girl. I want to go through life having fun. Fun doesn’t have to be a party. Watching the hummingbirds, deer, birds, or your dog can be fun. Or, for some of you – your cats. Fun can be a good meal or a walk in the woods.

Fun can be appreciating the people and things around you.

Fun can be gratefulness. Fun is usually tied to gratefulness.

Life is a trip. Don’t forget to have fun!

Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning. Psalm 30:5b

 

P.S. After singing “Rollercoaster” for a whole weekend, my grand-girl started singing it too, so I decided to pull it up and play the song. Well, the song is actually called “Love Rollercoaster.” I was going to add it to our “Grand Girls Fun Songs” playlist, but after seeing the album cover and reading the lyrics, I’m not so sure. Ha!