May 21, 2010

“We are never too old to be young or too young to be old.”

I got in the car this afternoon a little before 4. It was hot outside (I’m in Florida and it’s been summer for three weeks now – sorry). I had all the windows open a crack and my car had been parked totally in the shade, but when I started it and looked at the temperature outdoors it read 102 degrees.  My car had a fever.

I don’t mind the heat. My wife Vicki doesn’t do so well. Still, 102 is hot. Realistically, it was probably more like 92. But hot is hot.

I was reminded of a time one summer a few years ago when I was speaking to a business group about the importance of community. It was a practical strategic session meaning it wasn’t the most exciting of talks. It was hot outside and I could see they were fading fast.

I asked “Which would you rather do, another hour of this, or go out on the lawn and have a water balloon fight?” I should have had a camera.  Just the thought of it did the trick.  They immediately understood the benefit of joyful momentary community. And even though they were dressed in business clothes, they wouldn’t let go of the thought.

Sometime after that, at a similar meeting in another company, I came more prepared. Not only did I have water balloons, but they were filled and ready to go. Needless to say, we got wet.

Now there’s a story.

And the thing about that story is the odds are very good that one of you will do the very same thing simply because YOU smiled when you heard it.  You got it. You are going to do it.

The power of stories.

That, and the age thing…  You don’t have to be old to feel old. I have seen college kids who were too burned out from school to take a moment for simple community. Those moments of water balloon fights revive us. The hours that follow the moments of community are filled with far more energy.

The challenge is taking the first step. Go get the balloons…