Shriners Embrace a Playful Attitude
There are a lot of reasons to be a Shriner, the most important being the support of Shriners Children’s. Since 1922, Shriners Children’s has been changing lives through pediatric specialty care. Local Shrine organizations are also key to locating and helping families with travel and other expenses when they need this special care.

The world-class care these children receive from Shriners Children’s is at no cost. It truly is a story that needs to be told, and most often you will see Shriners and Shriner clowns in parades with motorized cars, horses, or whatever it takes to draw attention to the Shrine story.

Why a parade? Because a parade gives people a chance to see the Shrine story through joy, laughter, and playfulness.

Be Grateful for the Playful
Being grateful for the playful means viewing joy, humor, and lightheartedness as precious gifts. Those gifts are on display as Shrine units take to the streets to bring smiles to the faces of everyone watching.

But being grateful for the playful is not just for Shriners. It is something we all should remember and embrace.
For many of us, playfulness started when we were kids and our parents found ways for us to spend time playing, perhaps at the local grade school where there was a wide range of equipment designed for kids and kids at heart.

Play Is Not a Waste of Time
As I remember it, and then later with my kids and grandkids, time spent on the playground is a release from life’s everyday stress. Sure, kids enjoy playtime whether it is at a park or at home, but adults can watch kids play and get lost in the moment.

For whatever time we allow ourselves to watch kids play, we know it relieves the stress of the day. It turns ordinary minutes into special minutes.

There was a show some years ago that Art Linkletter hosted, “Kids Say the Darndest Things.” We all shared in a laugh when a kid would come up with a story or even a short reflection on life. I remember Mr. Linkletter asking a kid, “Tell me one funny or silly thing that happened today,” and then stepping back to wait for an answer.

One kid explained in detail how his mother had backed the car out and, in an attempt to miss running over the family cat, backed over the young man’s trike. The young man concluded that saving the cat at the expense of his trike was certainly OK, but his solution was not to buy any more cats because they cause trouble for Mom.

Turning Playfulness into Gratitude
So how do we move from playful moments to playful gratitude, or even a playful attitude?

First, live in the moment, but try to make more events in life a game, not a chore. That is easy to say and hard to do. But going back to the Shriners model, creating a positive moment for all those who watch a parade helps Shriners as they work to raise money for Shriners Children’s.

Next, it is OK to smile or laugh, even at the smallest things. Try to be playful.

And sometimes it is OK to let go of the rules. We need rules, or the world would be in chaos. But again, think of the Shriners who drive silly little cars designed to make people laugh at how crazy they look.

It Happens Almost Every Day
In a way, I might be preaching to the choir, as most of our readers are from the Minot Air Force Base. The jobs they perform every day are stressful, and everyone has to be ready to pivot at a moment’s notice and move in a different direction.

Yet when there are competitions, award banquets, or other group gatherings, there is a total focus on living in the moment. Some of the traditions could even be defined as playful, such as carrying a three-foot stick that you slap on the floor while yelling “BULLY!” Or spraying water on a pilot who just completed his or her fini-flight in a B-52.

Grateful for the Playful
To me, being grateful for the playful means that we appreciate those special moments that make life a little lighter. We break out a smile or a laugh when those moments happen, not just when we decide it is appropriate.
When Dizzy the Clown, once president of the World Clown Association, was asked why he thought he made life special in his more than 50 years as a clown, he said, “It’s because when I was a clown, I always had a smile on my face, in make-up, and that made others smile too.”

Ramblins’
Now is the time to get those fall harvest photos. Our travels this weekend revealed beautiful yellow sunflower fields and golden crested wheat fields. Remember, the golden hour in photography is between 6 PM and 7 PM. Make those photo memories now.

Today’s Chuckle
Life is a lot like bowling. No sooner do you get on a roll than you wind up in the gutter.