I Believe in Spontaneity
It was another uneventful Friday night on the college campus. My friends and I were playing Monopoly in the main lounge of the dorm, complaining of the stresses of college and the play of the game. The first week of second semester was finally over. New classes, Profs, papers, and book expenses were central in everyone’s mind, causing tension and unhappiness for all seated around the table. The conversation was slow and shallow, until one of my friends casually mentioned she would like to soak in a spa. Some of my other friends agreed that sounded heavenly. I thought for a moment how amazing that would be, and then offhandedly revealed that I had a spa at my house that was about a half and hour away from campus. All conversation ceased and everyone stared at me. Suddenly, they proposed to drive to my house for a soak. I thought they were joking—it was already after ten by that time. Yet my creative and desperate friends would not take “no” for an answer. We compounded all our resources, eventually finding a car and enough gas money for the excursion. Swimsuit and towels were quickly packed and we piled into an aged Mazda that was generously donated by a friend who was recovering from knee surgery. We drove through the dark night, braving the subzero temperatures of a Minnesota February. The wind-chill was negative forty-five according to the radio, which was the source of outrageous sing-alongs for the majority of the drive. We were welcomed by my parents and spent over an hour outside in the steaming hot tub. After a good soak and stress relieving conversation we enjoyed hot cocoa and traveled back to campus. We arrived after three in the morning, went to our appropriate rooms, and drifted off to peaceful sleep.
This seems like another story of crazy college kids, and it is. However, this experience changed the way I think. I was always one to carefully plan out every hour of every day, not engaging in much social activity, and NEVER wavering from the schedule. Flexibility was not a virtue in my mind. This spontaneous move caused me to realize how beneficial a little unplanned fun was to a stressful life. Sometimes you need to drop everything and go do something exciting and spontaneous. Spontaneity is a refreshing change of pace in a life full of schedules. It revives the mind and cleanses the soul. So go and try something unplanned. Who knows? You may end up having the most fun you ever had. I know I did.