This weekend had some great distractions, first Saturday we loaded up at 6am to go to a Robotics tournament (I’m a coach and both kids are on the team)
We did as good as we hoped to do, but the competition is tough this year. The kids were awed by the fancy new suburban school that hosted it.
After that wrapped up, we did my favorite activity, camping with our Boy Scout troop. It’s been perfect daytime weather in the 70s, but waking up to frost on the tents and 35 degrees certainly was brisk. I love the peace of being outdoors and breathing fresh air though and would gladly do this every weekend.
If you had asked me ten years ago if I’d enjoy volunteering as an adult leader for kids things I would say “absolutely not!”. I never considered myself great with kids, and certainly didn’t think any sort of volunteering would be fun.
After my last bout of cancer though, one thing became clear to me - no one has ever said on their death bed “I wish I hadn’t spent so much time with my kids!”.
When I’ve thought of the meaning of life, this is certainly what I’ve distilled it down to - at least from an evolutionary perspective, everything is about creating a new generation and helping them to succeed to create their own subsequent generations. We leave nothing else behind that will last more than a few years. It’s wild to think about all the ancestors before me and what they did to pass down the genes to allow me to be around today (although given my current health, I have a few notes for those ancestors…).
Even working with other people’s kids is extremely satisfying - one of things I am the most proud of is watching the little glue eating Cub Scouts I worked with when they were 7 turn into responsible young men who can setup their own camps, cook their own meals and generally survive a weekend on their own without adults.
If you’re looking for meaning in life, I highly recommend volunteering with youth, and I’m looking forward to continuing this at long as I can.
You are an inspiration!