Company Blog

Youthful Enthusiasm

by Adam Zack — September 29, 2021

Enthusiasm for life is essential for mental and physical health.

When I was in my early 20’s my good friend Karen and I would go out late at night and play the Purse Game. You know, where you tie a piece of fishing line to an old purse and throw it out into the road and wait for someone to drive by, see it and stop. Just before they got out of the car to look for it we’d yank the line and pull it to where we were hiding by the side of the road. We just thought it was the funniest thing ever to see these people get out of their car and look for this purse that they swear they’d seen. One night, in fact the last night we ever played it, we hauled the bag in and waited. This man has a flashlight and comes over to where we are hiding, shines his light on us and says something like “Aren’t you a little old to be playing the Purse Game?” We were totally embarrassed and thought, “You know, maybe he’s right.”

Everywhere we go around San Diego, California it seems we are surrounded by youth. Millennial families with little kids that scream with delight every time their feet touch a wave. Gen-X kids on skateboards in the parking lots while they smoke cigarettes. High school age boys with girls wearing swimsuits that are not much more than a piece of dental floss and a scrap of cloth. They surround us, I tell ya. They have the optimism, enthusiasm and joy for life that can be contagious. Enthusiasm for life is essential for mental and physical health. We try to act and think like we are in a similar age group, even though our bodies definitely don’t look or feel the same. So the life question is how do we maintain the spirit of youth as we age? Guys like Bob LaBonne still skis barefoot at age 60. DW still thinks farts are the funniest things ever. We like to go see punk rock shows. My uncle’s wife Mary still did triathlons in her late 70’s. It’s not letting the things that you embraced in your youth go. Think back.

Now let me see if we have an old purse around here. I know the perfect place by the side of our street…