Neverland

 “Second star to the right, and straight on till morning.”

These are the directions made up by Peter Pan to a world called Neverland, the place where boys and girls never grow up.  The place where adventures happen, but no one gets hurt. There is no one there to tell the children ” you can’t do this” or “don’t do that.”  The only thing that guides them is their desires for an adventurous life.

There were pirates, mermaids, fairies and all sorts of creatures that a child could think of in a make believe world.  There were no boundaries to what they could or couldn’t do.  The only limits they set were that of their mind.  The greatest part of Neverland was you could fly.  Only the children though, not the adults. 

J.M. Barrie was the first to ever write about Peter Pan.  In the original tale of Peter Pan, the Neverlands (as they are called) are found in the minds of children, and that although each is 'always more or less an island', and they have a family resemblance, they are not the same from one child to the next.

You always wonder if Wendy, Peter or John were just dreaming that night or if they had actually experienced this strange new world.  None the less, it was a place for them that they knew of and it was their story to tell.

My question is what happened to our Neverland?

As a child, my older brother and I had many adventures in our back yard, in our house and in our front yard.  We had a very wild imagination and my parents didn’t hold us back from using it.  If we were confounded to our bedroom, we would play like we were sorcerers, using our encyclopedias like they were spell books. 

In the back yard, we would play like we were G.I. Joes and our giant sheep dogs, Teddy and Sheba, were monsters sent by Cobra Commander.  The weeping willow in the front yard was Castle Grayskull and there was never a time when we were not acting like we were Transformers.

There were no limits to our imaginations.  If we could think it up, that is what we were.  I actually thought when I wore my Superman PJ’s that I was Superboy.  Luckily, I never attempted to fly.  My parents limited me there.

I can’t remember when I stopped using my imagination.  I know I use to have a big problem day dreaming in class when I was younger, but slowly grew out of it. 

When did we start limiting ourselves to what we could or couldn’t do?  When did we ever stop trying to live a life we wanted and started living a life for others?  The truth is we are surrounded by a world ready to criticize anyone who thinks outside the box of what a normal life should be.

We were not placed here to endure suffering until we die and are in Heaven.  No, the truth is, this world was created by God to be enjoyed.  Though there is evil in this world, it does not mean there is nothing to be enjoyed. 

Ever see a sunset that didn’t make you smile or be in the presence of a newborn baby that you didn’t think was the most beautiful baby in the world?  We have limited our Neverland.  The sense of adventure has been lost and now we are like mindless robots going through our days. 

I had the pleasure of meeting a family last week.  They were a family of six from Austin Texas, on a road trip to Branson Missouri.  The four children were no older than 7 and no younger than 1.  On their trip, their van died on the interstate.  Their Transmission had gone out and It would cost more than the vans worth to fix it.  So, the dad contemplated his options.  Either he calls the vacation off and flies home or buy a new van and continue their trip.

Now, most would have been frustrated to no end with their troubles.  Especially when you get stuck in Norman where there is not much for children to enjoy.  I asked the dad how he was handling all this.  I will never forget what he said.  “If my children remember this trip, I don’t want them remembering the bad things.  I want them to remember that we encountered troubles and overcame them without skipping a beat.  I want them to remember it as an adventure and not as a mis-fortune.  How I handle the problem is what they will remember more than the problem itself.”

I was in shock when he said this.  I can see myself, in the same situation, blowing a gasket.  I was glad I met him though.  He reminded me to look at life as an adventure and to look at every situation as an opportunity to live a better life.  Not to confide my world into what it is, but to what it could be.  That I, and I alone, can control what I do and what kind of life I live.

I sometimes forget what is at the top of my blog; “if you don’t like your story, write yourself a new one.”  I have not liked my story lately, so I am in the process of writing a new one.  I want adventure in life.  Though, in adventure lies risk.  And that is what I am afraid of. 

To live is a risk.  Sometimes, some adventures don’t work out. That is when you start a new chapter and continue on with your story.  There is no end to your story until you write it.  Whether that end is in your old age or your younger years, you can decide where it will be. 

Don’t miss adventures in life to avoid risks.  My parents missed out on so much because they were afraid to take risks in their lives.  I see it in them, the regrets they have and what they missed out on.  Their faces have aged and show how much they have struggled to live the life they have rather take a risk and live a life they wanted. 

There is more to this world than money, and I believe that with all my heart.  There are things to see, people to help, lives to change.  Not everyone’s adventure is the same.  Just like every child’s Neverland was different from the other, so is everyone’s sense of adventure.  The only thing that differed from each child was their direction to Neverland. 

The only thing that can hold you back is fear of risk and don’t ever hold back because of fear.  Fear is the thing that the Devil uses to try and mess up our destiny.  Fear of failure lies within all of us as does the ability to love.  And there lies another risk.  Though, don’t ever be afraid to tell someone you love them or be loved back.  It is true, “'tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all” (Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem In Memoriam:27, 1850). 

The regrets in life that generations before us have, we can miss them now if we can listen to that child inside us and take that leap to our own Neverland.  You just have to find your own direction.