MY CREDO
by Henry Blum
May 4, 2003
Hello everyone. My name is Henry Arthur Blum, and I’ve been coming to All Souls for 9 years. For 9 years, every Sunday I wake up, check the time, and wish I had a few more minutes of sleep. Many times have I tried to avoid going to Sunday school just for a few more moments of blissful rest. Fortunately my parents are experts at getting me up, and because of them, I have been able to enjoy All Souls every weekend. Some of my favorite memories of All Souls are of the trip to Boston. It was a learning experience about Unitarian Universalism, and also full of fun and games too.
That was a great trip, because I believe in having fun. It’s a great thing for me to believe in, because it is pretty much my main goal in life. I have found that there is nothing quite like a bundle of good quality fun. You can have fun anywhere, anytime and with anyone. It’s free, fuel efficient, and no one has allergies to it.
Having fun can be tied into pretty much anything that I have as a "goal in life". For example, school. Though it can take a lot of effort, and many long nights of studying, to get through it, you get to meet tons of new people and you learn all sorts of stuff. Though some of you might think "Learning? Learning isn’t fun!" it really depends on what you are learning. Sometimes you have to learn about stuff that you aren’t at all interested about to progress to something you really enjoy.
It is important to remember, that for every force, there is an equally strong counter-force. The evil counter-force to fun is, of course, stress. It is very difficult to have fun of any kind if you’re bogged down with stress. Hence, to have more fun, you need to have less stress. This is where all that onerous hard work I do in life plays its part. Doing just a bit of work can relieve a ton of stress. I find it nearly impossible to have fun hanging out with my friends if all that is on my mind is, "did I pay enough attention in class or study enough for that test?" or, "did I really get all my work done, maybe I forgot to check something." By doing that work out of the way, you lose the stress, and you can actually have fun.
I’ve tried just forgetting about my responsibilities and stress. Doesn’t that sound like the best choice? All fun, with no work? Unfortunately, as I’ve learned, you can’t just ignore your duties, because they will just come back more difficult and with even more stress. Suddenly you realize that you are only a few hours from the deadline of a big project, and you find you haven’t done any work. You find that you’re trying to do monstrous amounts work and deal with enormous levels of stress. That’s no fun at all. Taking some time beforehand, and doing it non-last-minute, means you don’t have to take on all that stress, a much better option than the alternative.
So, here is my blueprint for life so far: I’ll do work to get my fun, and to lessen future stress. In the end, the time I spend not having fun and working instead will bring me even more fun. Fun is my goal in life, and you have to overcome obstacles to get to your goals. So, until I find something better, fun is what I strive for, and I’ll be glad to share it with anyone.