Wisdom is wisdom no matter the source

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One of my favorite movies is the 1986 “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

The film has stuck with me for a number of reasons, one of those being that I was an impressionable preteen when it came out and I was all about any John Hughes film for they all combine into a sort of tapestry hanging in the background of my formative years.

But Ferris has stuck with me, too, because of the idea of seizing the day. I recently read an article that had something to do with leaving the film in the past, about letting it go already. The writer even tossed the idea around that it was a vapid affair, with the main character representing some not-so-honorable qualities.

OK. I get that. But it’s a movie and it sure is a fun one. And, it’s not going away and as with anything it’s all in how you look at it.

The movie is awesomeness in a number of ways, but the older I’ve gotten, the more I think to myself that I want a Ferris Bueller day off kind of day.

It is just endlessly fun — a Cubs game, ogling priceless art, dancing and singing a Beatles tune with ladies in lederhosen in a parade, pretending to be Abe Froman (the sausage king of Chicago) while dining out at an absurdly expensive restaurant, getting to tool around town in a ridiculously cool Ferrari, and being lucky enough to have a bestie that is so fed up with the relationship of he and his father that he’s willing to take the fall for that Ferrari’s demise.

And to boot, you don’t get busted by the parents or the principal (or the boss) for blowing off a day of responsibility.

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it,” the school-ditching Bueller said in the film.

And he’s right. Oh so right, only I didn’t really understand the sentiment until I was all grown up with a mortgage and kiddos to feed every single day.

And therein lies it all, life moves too fast, and I’ve noticed it’s gotten a lot faster with the rush and crush of just seeing to the daily things.

In my youth, time only mattered in that it was too slow. It seemed to take forever and a day to get to the point of being old enough to do my own things, to get out of high school, to be my own gal.

Once upon a time I had all the time I wanted to lay about and read until I passed out, and then I’d wake up and read some more. Once upon a time my own activities were the only ones that I had to think about.

Over the last two decades that has all changed tremendously.

I’ve noticed that sometimes it’s not so hard to count one’s blessings, and other times, well, it’s hard to see them for all the stuff that gets in the way.

So as my perspective of late has lent itself to my being a bit grumpier than usual, I’m trying really hard to take a step one way or the other just to change how I see things, even if for a moment.

It’s in that crush of things to do that joy is trampled, happiness is fleeting if it’s felt at all, and the flirtations with the breaking point are a constant distraction.

If I don’t step back or step this way or that, I’m facing head-on all the wrong things and missing not only every single blessing in my life, but every opportunity, too. And you know, there are many blessings and I don’t want to miss a single one of them, not a single moment.

A Ferris Bueller kind of day off may be a pipe dream, especially given that we live not so near to Chicago, but I’m gonna keep at it. It’s my life, and I’ve only got this one chance to take it on, take it in, and live it to the fullest.

Reach Angela Shepherd at 937-393-3456, ext. 1681, or on Twitter @wordyshepherd.

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By Angela Shepherd

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