Have you ever done something that you know won’t yield any results, but you do it anyway?
We were driving on I-70 past the Eisenhower Tunnel towards Silverthorne to go skiing over the holidays. Katie and I were reminded of the days we spent at a ranch nearby with our friend Wade, where he lived for a short time and during the summers while we were in college. This was when we were all young pups about 20 years ago… we had so many great memories there.
One day we took the horses out for a ride. We weren’t that experienced at riding horses and didn’t have a destination in mind. OK, we had no idea what we were doing. There were also a couple of Llamas on the ranch and somehow we started trying to herd them. They would tolerate us for a while and we would think we had them heading a particular direction. A City Slicker’s dream, we were cowboys and a cowgirl.
However, Llamas are like cats, they are unherdable (if that is actually a word.) They would give us that llama look (yes, llamas can give some serious crusties and are very good at giving dirty looks) and veer off. We would try again and again. No luck.
Anyway, I’m not sure many of you will ever have the chance to try and heard llama’s on a horseback, but if you do, I highly recommend it.
I guess the insight that I am trying to share here is that sometimes you need ‘a just because activity’ once in a while. Something different and out of the ordinary, with no expectations for any results, value, or benefit. Something you do just for fun.
Our 4-year-old daughter Maggie used to always say , “llama llama ding dong!”, which I think came from the children’s book series (my google search shows all sorts of results for it, I had no idea). Wherever she picked it up (maybe the the movie ‘The Emperor’s New Groove’), she always had fun saying it. You could see the free spirit that a 4-year-old should have, marching to her own drum, in her own world.
So the next time that you find yourself about to engage in a harmless daily diversion that you don’t think will result in anything, but find it satisfying and refreshing… Just say ‘llama llama ding dong’ and have some fun with it! There is plenty of time for all of your purpose filled activities.
