#99 Being prepared

There's something about being prepared that just feels good.  Maybe you're going camping and remembered to bring both a headlamp AND a flashlight, in case one goes dead.  Maybe you're a Boy Scout, and being ready is just a way of life.  Or maybe you're on the East Coast with a hurricane by the name of Irene barreling toward you, and you've not only stocked up on dry food and water but moved the vase off your windowsill and bought a book you've been meaning to read for all those hours trapped indoors.

It's a terrible feeling to reach your destination and realize, with a sinking in your stomach, that you've forgotten something important.  It's no fun to be caught in the rain without an umbrella, or in the woods without bug spray, or at the end of a Saturday night without your wallet.  We all have these moments, and always will.  But we still have the other moments--those exquisite, shining jewels when you get to the beach and everyone has forgotten sunscreen but you.  "I've got it," you say.  "I'm prepared."

AWESOME.

#100: playing soccer in the rain

By the time you reach adulthood, you are pretty much conditioned to hate the rain.  It makes day-to-day activities like getting a sandwich from that place around the corner or stopping at the ATM across the street something to grumble about.

But when you were a kid, rain meant fun. It meant jumping in big puddles and catching raindrops on your tongue.

For me, I learned to slidetackle in the rain. I was probably 10 or 11 and showed up to soccer practice one Thursday afternoon to the delightful news that the sixteen-or-so girls on my team would be spending the afternoon learning to slidetackle.  None of us wanted to slidetackle each other (and I'm pretty sure that would have ended disastrously anyways), but we spent the afternoon running at full speed in random directions and sliding into puddles.  Sometimes we put a soccer ball in the middle of a giant mud puddle and slid right in.  Sometimes we slid into the mud puddle just for fun.  By the end of practice, we were all soaked and covered in mud, and none of our parents wanted to let us in their cars.  But we couldn't have been happier.  We were delightfully exhausted. An afternoon of running whichever way looked the muddiest thrilled us all.

I felt the same feeling when I jogged onto a soccer field this weekend, in the middle of the pouring rain, appreciating the freedom and careless abandon that came with knowing that we would all be soaked in an instant... and deciding to embrace it.

I took one quick look around to make sure no one was watching, then stuck out my tongue to catch a few raindrops.  AWESOME.

#101: Holding hands up

It's a sunny day.  You're walking through the park with your parents on either side.  You give a little skip in your Stride Rites because life is just so good.  Look...there's a duck!  And look...a playground!  Some things are new and scary, sure, but you feel safe all the same.  Why?  Because you're holding hands...up.

Most of us have passed the age at which holding hands involves lifting your elbow above your head.  Most of us will never again experience the joy of being able to swing between Mom and Dad, hang with your entire body weight as you drag your feet at the end of a long trip to the mall, or hold on to just a pinkie with your entire fist.  But if you think back hard enough, the moment is there--when holding hands didn't mean interlocking clammy fingers in a movie theater, or letting your arm dangle by your side as you walk down the street.  Holding hands happened UP.  And that's just...

AWESOME.

#102: leaving a voicemail saying "it's me," instead of leaving a name

The machine asks for your name, number, and brief message after the beep. And you reply with "Hey, it's me - call me back!"

You do it because the other person recognizes your voice. You do it because you have shared so much with the person on the other end that it couldn't be anyone else but you. You do it because it is your best friend, your boyfriend, or your brother.

It's a great feeling to leave someone their first nameless message. It means you've made it.

AWESOME.