The Disney Bench

Walt Disney, when he was younger, used to take his daughters to the park and sit on the park bench while they rode around on the merry go round. As he sat there and watched them go round and round, a thought occured to him, "What if there was an amusement park where families could go and ride together?" From that thought, we eventually got Disneyland and Disney's name would live on immortally forever. (As a quick side note: the new Walt Disney Films logo that comes at the beginning of Pirates 2 is REALLY REALLY COOL!)

When I was younger and life seemed to be throwing one thing after another at me, I calmly accepted it and rode it out. I would say to myself, "Life is a roller coaster. Just hang on and enjoy the ride."

Somewhere along the line, I joined Disney on the bench. Somewhere I decided that rides were for younger people and us, older, and more dignified, people sat on benches and watched. We write blogs about other people's accomplishments because we haven't got any of our own, or if we do, they are dignified and polished. We write about books we've read, or plays we've seen, placid vacation spots, or ideas that we've had. No one my age writes about the last time they jumped out of an airplane, or the list of women they've met while on safari in Africa. Why? Because these people, if they exist, are not on the bench with me. They are doing. I am watching.

I'm going to get a T-shirt that says, "God, thank you for giving me a swift kick in the a**!" I pray this morning that I want to start doing things, and the next thing you know, I realize that I'm sitting on the bench.

The bench is safe. The bench is warm. Its a cocoon. You don't have to face the real world here. You can comment on it. You can worry about it. But you don't have to do anything else about it. Being on the bench is a way of life. You can make plans about what you'd like to do - wouldn't it be great if there was a park for entire families to gather in - but until you get off that bench, those plans are just ideas.

I'm getting off the bench. See ya.

P.S. THE FIRST REVIEW IS IN!

"THE THIN LINE IS A PAGE TURNER! I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN! I WAS READY TO SAY IT SUCKED, BUT INSTEAD, IT SUCKED ME IN!"
- Will's Mom

Hey, I don't make this stuff up. There are still two copies of the first 10 chapters waiting for readers. Join now and be the first on your block to say you read next year's Pulitzer Prize Winning Novel!