In the long, warm Saturday’s of childhood, life remains a straightforward and clear endeavor. We have our friends. We have our family and we have the great big world; that incredible event that was put into motion simply to run through, climb over and dream about.
Then — and don’t ask me how this happens — a few Saturdays go by and then a few more. Then they come in by the dozen. And as they flip by, one-by one, we awaken to discover that we are now shaving, paying car insurance and there are other humans that have our last name.
Wow. Weird.
And even though there are many, many boyhood ideals that are worth keeping and preserving — honor, trust, dignity, faith — there are also areas that we never get to appreciate until we are older.
Here are the top ten.
10. Rarer meats.
Remember when we liked our hamburgers the same way we did our marshmallows over a fire? — charred to perfection? Then, over time, we came to appreciate all that moisture and flavor that is kept in the red parts. A rare piece of prime rib is something we will be excited for on New Years Eve but would have us gagging only a few years before.
9. Naps.
Naps are God’s way of telling us that he loves us. As kids we avoided naps; thinking that some amazing things would occur that we would miss. Then, as adults we found out that there is a way to reset the day. It’s this magical doorway that we get to walk through every now and then.
8. Spicy foods.
As kids, spicy means pain. Period. As adults spicy is not only the bragging rights to the macho, but it actually contains dopamine — the main ingredient in herion. As a kid, even pepper will have is crying. As an adult, we’ll put Red Hot on our cereal.
7. The party going on, without us.
Men, are pack animals. And the majority of our young lives — and our young-adult lives — are dictated by the extremely strong drive to be at every gathering, every time, no matter what — it’s as strong as the one that drives the salmon up river. If there is a party — any kind of party, anywhere, any time — we will be there because we couldn’t stand knowing there is fun going on without us. Then, one day, the world doesn’t revolve around us and we’re okay with that. That drive is reduced and we get to go only if we want to. Which is so much better.
6. Coffee.
Coffee is a gray area because it’s like booze in that it’s difficult to know if people actually enjoy the taste of it, or they just enjoy the feeling from drinking it. I’m not sure. But zillions of people drink coffee and as a kid we wouldn’t touch the stuff. Even if you poured in a pound of white sugar and added a few dozen Mars bars. No way.
5. Being alone.
What was once feared is now coveted. The boyhood idea of being alone means you were unloved, uncared for and unprotected. It was punishment. The adult version means that you are unplugged, unencumbered and free. We can do what we want with no one dictating or requesting. This amount of time, this space, is completely ours.
4. Cooking.
The act of cooking actually fits very well into our male frame of mind. It has structure, rules — the ones you can break and the ones you can’t — and involves building and constructing something. As kids we enjoyed that there were a tram of large humans that would no our bidding. As men it’s nice to not only be creative in the kitchen, but to serve others.
3. Haircuts.
Why did we hate these as kids? We would scream and yell as if they were removing bone-marrow not cutting hair? — but we took that lollipop at the end, didn’t we? Sell outs. And then one day we not only didn’t mind getting our haircut but we actually enjoyed the experience — the social aspect of it, the people watching and the ability to walk out with a new look.
2. Girls.
It’s ironic that the opposite-sex moves from the category of creepy and useless, to dangerous and fearful. One day we cant stand them and the next we are petrified of them. Then we pass though that whole dating and marriage thing and find ourselves having more and more women friends — who are the ones we seek when looking for guidance advice and empathy.
1. Being wrong.
For most of our boyhood and young adult life, there is this embedded need to be found right. We will research, Google, debate and interview if it means that we can be justified and found to be correct — preferably stated as such, preferably aloud in front of others. Then — one day — the credit for being right appears a bit hollow. In fact, when it comes to being right or being kind, our older self will choose kind.
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