The Crazy Final Truth

There are few things that I believe to be an absolute truth. The existence of God, the positive power of happiness, the destructive power of anger (a demon I continue to fight everyday), and the importance of being at  least a little bit crazy. 

PART 4: CRAZY

       Admittedly, my last two entries were a little generic, and for that I apologize.   I felt it important to start this "thing" giving my readers (as few as you are)  a good understanding of where I'm coming from.  So I thank you for bearing with me through this four part series.  The fact that you are still reading this tells me something about you.  It tells me that you don't need to be reading this entry, because you must already have the crazy part down (with the exception of my mother who would be offended by the assertion that she is in any way insane and is reading this simply because she is my mom and is genetically driven to do so).

       Crazy breeds invention, innovation, and creativity, but more importantly it keeps life interesting.  I try and let my crazy out whenever I get the chance, and it often baffles people around me.  A little more than two years ago I was skateboarding with a few kids from the youth group I ran.  I'd been on the board for about 10 minutes or so, having a great time.  I turned the corner to find my future wife Laura standing in  the middle of the road. "What the HELL are you doing?!" she said indignantly. Shocked I stopped  dead in my tracks, and simply stared at her blankly.  The youth group kids simultaneously  lowered their heads, slowly and sheepishly the took a small step back from Laura, each looked like a dog about be get scolded by an angry owner. One of them murmured to me under breath, "told you she would be mad".  Apparently she had some sort of illogical issue with me skateboarding with the kids in the youth group.  She immediately explained the outlandish reason for her objection "Listen," she said sternly "You already have one broken ankle, and I don't think balancing yourself on one foot and using your crutches to push yourself down a hill on a skateboard is a great idea.  Especially considering your lack of health insurance."

       As I've mentioned before actions have consequence, but sometimes you just have to say "screw it" I'm in.  Now it is important to use a smidgen of judgment here. Skateboarding while already injured, is a far cry from say, robbing a bank.  While both may start out fun, the consequences if something goes wrong are severely different.  All I'm saying is if you have a chance to throw your able bodied mother off a small porch into a giant snow drift, do it.  Make jokes, laugh whenever you can,  and keep in mind that pranks aren't always a bad thing (in fact the opposite is usually true).  Don't let the fear of getting hurt stop you from covering yourself in football padding, getting on a bicycle and jousting with PVC pipes.   Play ultimate Frisbee with rotten two month old pumpkins instead of a Frisbee.  Put something freezing cold on the exposed lower back of an unsuspecting loved one.  Scare the living daylights out of someone (preferably someone you know, with no apparent heart conditions) for no good reason. Go water skiing,  but substitute a dirt road for water, and a Toyota for a boat (actually don't do that, but I had fun).  Most importantly, love every second of it when you find yourself the victim of someone's prank (because honestly, you deserve it).

      One of my good friends, Dustin Cabeal, once told me something that has always stuck with me....

  "People never really mature, they just learn how to act in public."

 So do me one favor, don't be afraid to let your crazy out, it's good for ya.  Life is too short to be burdened with sanity.

oh... and congratulations, you survived reading about the four primary pillars that  support my life philosophy, I truly appreciate it.

COMIC FANS!!!! Please take the time to check out Dustin's fantastic review site Comic Bastards