Winning Words 3/9/11
“As kids, we want to be adults who can do whatever they want, and as adults, we wish we were kids
who can do whatever they want.” (Kelly Oxford on Twitter) One of my favorite episodes of The Twilight Zone is called, “Kick the Can,” in which some old people become young again by playing kick-the-can. The age we are is determined more by our attitude than by a calendar date. ;-) Jack

FROM RS IN MICHIGAN: So true. I also remember pushing my girls to walk, then wishing they would hold still and let me rest. Then I pushed them to talk, and oh my…! FROM JACK: I wonder what they might say of you.

FROM PRJS IN MICHIGAN: That's going a bit too far....your last statement....certainly our attitude is important but the chronology is also critical. I could dunk a basketball at one time but can't even come near the rim now....that has nothing to do with attitude..... FROM JACK: The qualifying word is "more." I think my age is more of an attitude-age than a calendar-age. I can do other things and think other things now that I was never able to in the days of yore. Perhaps you need to go out and play kick-the-can.

FROM PL IN MICHIGAN: I loved that episode!!!!! FROM JACK: One of our Winning Words recipients is a relative of Rod Serling.

FROM PRJM IN MICHIGAN: Well said! Blessed Lent! FROM JACK: Oh, that's right! Today is Ash Wednesday. Yesterday, on Fat Tuesday, I had an apple paczki for lunch and pancakes for supper and wore a Mardi Gras sweatshirt.

FROM SF IN FLORIDA/MICHIGAN: 'How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?' (Satchel Paige) 'I never think about age...never.' (Jack LaLanne) Two of my favorite quotes about age! FROM JACK: A favorite picture of Satchel shows him in the bullpen as a relief pitcher, sitting in a rocking chair. That's one of his commentaries about age. And, of course, LL lives on through his ubiquitous TV juice commercials.

FROM ME IN NEWPORT BEACH: Nice, and even nicer yet, I feel like I have had the good fortune as both a child and an adult, to approximate that wish, with a slight modifier on the “whatever” part. FROM JACK: I think that living "on the Beach" helps keep you young.

FROM TAMPA SHIRL: That is so true, but some things do change, too. For instance Discovery is going to land at Cape Canaveral about noon, and I was thinking about going. Instead I am watching the NASA station with the orbit burning just announced and that the shuttle is over the Indian Ocean just now. What an amazing world we live in. We have seen many rockets and shuttles blast off at the Cape but never a landing. Maybe we'll make it over for the Atlantis landing. FROM JACK: When we were kids, Buck Rogers helped us drean of space exploration, and now we can turn on the TV and watch it as adults. Every age has its advantages. I heard on NPR this morning that museums "positioning" themselves to get Discovery as a permanent exhibit. Florida is trying to be first in line, but Texas A & M said, "DIBS," ahead of the rest.

FROM BBC IN ILLINOIS: I havent seen the kick the can episode but the kids used to watch a child horror series on TV called either Goosebumps or Eerie Indiana. In one episode the mothers are making the children sleep in tupperware/foreverware at night to keep them young always… FROM JACK: ....and Ponce de Leon went searching for "the Fountain of Youth" in Florida. You can see the kick-the-can episode on uTube.

FROM JE IN MICHIGAN: Right on Jack...I could not agree more. FROM JACK: One of the "miracles" of Winning Words is that it causes so many to see that so many have similar ideas.

FROM MOLINER CF: Some people do what they want to do all of the time and all of the people do what they want to do some of the time, but not all of the people do what they want to do all of the time. Abe Frieden

FROM ILLINOIS LIZ: That's why I have friends of all different chronological ages - as they say, age is just a number. FROM JACK: Do you have friends with different attitudinal ages, too?

FROM WATERFORD JAN: Kick the Can is more fun to contemplate than kicking the bucket! FROM JACK: My laugh for the day.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: Today Neil came over to do some work around the house for us. We talked for
quite awhile about our blessings and as we age, how much more we are grateful for our blessings. I wouldn't ever want to go back for a "do-over" but it is fun to remember our childhoods. Our favorite games... S.P.U.D. and flashlight tag. FROM JACK: What I remember in the younger days usually relates in school segments... later elementary, junior high, senior high.

MORE FROM ME: Nice weather is also very conducive to a positive attitude. Probably most important of all is the inbred attitude of wanting to play kick the can. FROM JACK: I'm going to get a can out of the recycling bin and kick it. I wonder if I'll feel any different.