You almost have to; or Accidental punch list II

I have reflected on my own musings to a certain degree. Maybe it’s normal to think about what you’ve written. I mean I have heard that 85 percent of writing is re-writing. So I have to add onto one of my previous blogs, because a) I’ve given the topic some more thought, and b) I caught myself saying something and it dawned on me why I noticed my accidental punch list at all.

“You almost have to”. I used the phrase to defend the actions of a good friend of mine. He went to Cabo San Lucas some time back and when he and his wife returned home they regaled me about their adventures on their tropical vacay. The conversation was normal enough. “We went to a massage parlor”, or “we sipped mojitos on the beach”, and then Ron said to me “I bought a Santa Claus costume” followed promptly by; “and the food was good.’

Wait. Back up there. “You bought a Santa Claus costume?” I asked. “In Cabo?”

My friend’s wife rolled her eyes and said that she also thought it was stupid, to which I put up my hand and waving off the comment I said “No, I get it.” My friend’s wife looked confused. Then I looked confused that she didn’t see it. Then her dogs all looked confused because the people looked confused (j/k). I told her that if you come across a Santa Clause costume in October in a tropical paradise, you almost have to buy it.

It’s a simple concept, really. If you are busy walking through life and you come across the absurd, crazy, wacky, exciting, or thrilling you almost have to participate. When my friend told me that she wanted to take me skydiving the day before I graduated High School I almost had to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. When I was in New Mexico and my brother offered me a hand full of coins in his pocket if I would eat one tequila worm that had been dried and salted, well I almost had to (there were a lot of quarters in there and for us apartment dwellers, that means laundry, people!).

Now, when I say “you almost have to” I do not refer to it like “oh poop, I have to do the dishes”, or “I guess I have to pay the bills”. I mean you almost have to eat to survive (if you want to do the whole liquid diet thing, more power to you, ya weirdo). It’s acknowledging that the universe at large has thrown you some spice in your life. You know, the spice of life that everyone claims they want, but don’t have. People have to learn that they almost have to stop and take a picture with the dinosaur in front of the McDonald’s. People should see that they almost have to try local cuisine when they travel. The spice is there if you look to see what the universe is telling you that you almost have to do something. The spice is there when you start looking for it.

I dunno. Call it “Sucking the marrow from the bones of life”. Call it “Carpe Diem”. Call it “Geronimo!” But what ever you do when your path crosses with something that you will remember and cherish for always if you do it, for the love of Pete tell yourself that YOU ALMOST HAVE TO, and then jump!