Last week for our Weekly Wednesday Creativity Contest on Facebook I asked the question, “What’s something that is only good to do once?” We had a lot of answers ranging from “Eat blowfish” (I laughed but my colleagues here agreed that blowfish probably isn’t good even the first time,) to the winning answer, “being born.” The answers weren’t quite what I expected, but that’s what makes our Creativity Contests so much fun for me.

I got the idea for the question from the Dr. Seuss quote above which suggests that people go try things. It’s something I wish I took to heart at a younger age. There are so many things I shied away from out of fear of the unknown. Some of them being:

• Going on an RV roadtrip with friends right after college
• Working as a bartender
• Teaching English in Asia
• Going to grad school

Many of these chances have been missed by me. We all have regrets, c’est la vie. As my oft-quoted Uncle Frank said, “Whatever you didn’t do, you get your kids to do.” (Frank was a college dropout, minor league baseball player, whose kids, my cousins, grew up with intense school and baseball regimen.) I certainly want my kids to experience more of life than I…well to a certain extent. There is a little danger in trying everything. Trying everything can lead to some bad consequences. Doing things is fun, but being broke or lost or hurt isn’t. But when thought a little further, most things won’t likely have terrible consequences, at least not the things I listed.

It’s great advice still. I just wish Dr. Seuss would complete the thought to say “If you never did you should, because these things are fun, and fun is good, as long as it’s done safely and with regard to consequences.”