An Email from Proud Podcast Participant Tom P got me thinking, as I’m sitting here in my big, manly, comfortable black leather poppa chair in my living room. Tom’s a thoughtful guy, and he’s very definitely a member of the Louie Louie Generation. He says “If I win the Powerball tomorrow, I know what I’m going to do with the money. I’m going to jump on the bed. My grandmother was right, I would break it. But jumping on the bed was fun, and if I won the jackpot, I would be able to afford a new bed. I will not, however, be reckless. I’ll take the bed outside before I jump on it, because I wouldn’t want to bump my head on the ceiling.” That’s the kind of Louie Louie guy reasoning that sometimes gets us an eye roll, a deep sigh, and an occasional night sleeping on the couch from our closest female associates.
For a Louie Louie Generation Guy, Tom is exceptionably mature, until he finds a piece of bubble wrap. But I think he’s got a point. I mean besides the point we all love on top of his head. If he won the jackpot, he’d use the money to have fun. When’s the last time you had fun ? I mean flat out, falling down laughing till the milk comes squirting out of your nose, jumping on the bed fun? And why has it been that long ?
Fun’s valuable. As Big Louie says in my book Staying Happy Healthy And Hot, (available at Amazon) “Fun fights fear, fat, and failure.” And it does. If you’re riding a scary roller coaster, but you’re having fun, the fun is more important than the fear. Fun fights fear. Lots of times, people eat more than they should because they’re bored. Fun fights fat. And you’ve never seen a failure jumping on the bed and laughing. Fun fights fear, fat and failure.
Fun is a big part of the “Happy” in Staying Happy Healthy And Hot. We’ve all heard lots of stories about how being happy is a big help in staying healthy. So maybe one session of jumping on the bed can help keep you from being stuck in bed because you’re sick. And as far as the Hot in the title…if you’re sick you’re not very hot…as in “Not tonight dear, I have a headache.” Try turning it around to “Not tonight headache, I have a dear” and then giggle.
Louie Louie Lads and Ladies believe in the power of fun. We may not look like the folks in the beer commercials with their fancy abs and perky breasts any more, but if the Pimple People who run around sticking nails through their tongues think we’re going to let ourselves turn into slabs of luke warm meat, like the Dreary Drones in the book they’re nuts. Guys like Proud Podcast Participant Tom P know that Louie Louie folks everywhere intend to be alive when we die. In fact, if all goes well, maybe we’ll be jumping up and down on our beds at the time.
Dick’s Details quiz. All answers are in the current podcast
1- Why should you never tickle the nearest hippo on the chin?
2- How do you know when you’ve got a well educated owl?
3- Why should they have changed the brand of coffee they were serving on the Titanic?
Dick’s Details. They take your mind off your mind.
There’s jumping up and down in bed and laughing, and there’s jumping into bed and loving. Jumping into bed and loving is no laughing matter. There’s a story about that in the current podcast. It’s called “The Perfect Stranger.”
He is a good man…the guy she’s going to marry in the story. And they do love each other. But…you know how you sometimes run into a person you never thought you’d see again…maybe in the supermarket, or a gas station, or at the beach. For some reason of chance, she ran into that perfect stranger lover once. I have a feeling she’ll run into him again…some day. Or even more dangerous…some night.
The Perfect Stranger is one of the stories I’m working on for my new Bedtime Stories 2 Personal Audio CD. If you like it, there are lots of stories like it in the CDs back on the home page.
There’s something amazing about a one night stand. A one night stand isn’t with someone you’d want to spend the rest of your life. He or she is just a quick, overpowering, and blazing memory. Like a lightning flash during a snow storm. Until that’s happened in your life, don’t get your undies all tied up in knots at me asking if I know the importance of commitment. I sure do.
But how about the energy of a quick and completely irresponsible explosion of hot hormones? That’s a question, not an answer. What do you do about a person who on purpose stands just a few inches too close for you to be comfortable, looks up at you for a moment longer than your blood pressure can handle, and smiles slowly. If you’re in a committed relationship, how many bodily reactions are you allowed to have before you damage the commitment. How much of that natural electricity can you short circuit before your lights go out, your life goes limp, and all three of you are less alive…you, your partner and the stranger. As I said, it’s not an answer…it’s a question. I may tell you sometime why I asked you about it.
So…when’s the last time you had fun ? I mean flat out, falling down laughing till the milk comes squirting out of your nose, jumping on the bed fun? And why has it been that long ? I think one of the most important things you can do when things get grim is to make faces at yourself in the bathroom mirror. Because sooner or later that will make you grin…and there aren’t too many things as important as a grin. When you grin you win. Things being what they usually are, if you’ve been in the bathroom for a while, someone will eventually come along and pound on the door and yell, “Are you still in there?” Always tell them no. A good surprise never hurt anybody.
I really like Proud Podcast Participant Tom P’s suggestion that we take a few minutes to jump up and down on the bed. And laugh. And turn some grim into a grin. We should be alive the day we die. You’re not supposed to jump up and down on your death bed. But how are they going to punish you for it? They can’t take anything away from you. Because they figure you can’t take anything with you. But every time I hear them say I can’t take it with me, instead of getting grim, I start to grin. Because I plan on doing just that. I’m taking the most important gift I’ve ever been given with me when I hit that last bounce on my bed.
I’m taking every bit of love I’ve ever known with me. And maybe even some I never knew about.