The hospital I work at wanted some of use to write “Insight” stories about things that we do as “Hobbies” that we also bring to work to cheer others up…so I wrote this and thought I would share with you guys.
Why I do what I do...with that “Toy”
Many times I am asked “So why do you play with that ‘toy’?” Like many of us I find the question interesting, maybe a tad frustrating depending on the tone used in delivering it and sometimes I am a little confused as to why a yoyo is thought of as a toy and why playing with one is so “Mysterious.” My answers range from “Its fun” or “Its challenging” to more drawn out explanations depending on the audience. Recently I had a great opportunity to share some yoyo love with others at a family gathering.
Its Saturday, in the afternoon. I’m at my daughter’s birthday party, a yoyo in my pocket, another in my bag and an entire case of 12 sitting in the adjacent room. I’ve brought several yoyos for the kids to play with... nothing like my precious metals but nice ones for them to keep and hopefully to learn to love as I did when I was around the same age. I’ve had scarce opportunity today to actually throw my yoyo but showing the kids the proper string length, how to tie the loop and where to place it on their throwhand has been fun and rewarding. I don’t feel like an adult who plays with a yoyo, I just feel like a player...someone who just takes the time to enjoy life and what that small hunk of beautifully machined aluminum can offer - especially on days like today.
The kids are loving the yoyos. The auto-return feature is great for them and it gives them that necessary feeling of accomplishment while not entirely doing the job for them. They see it as something new and fun. I see throwing as something with much greater potential. In a simple yoyo I see the chance to challenge myself. The opportunity to exercise my mind and body and a skill set that must be exercised as well while being built upon and improved. I see the world through eyes of a thrower and know that just as that last trick I landed took time, so do many things in life - accomplishments in life take time but you’ll land it in the end. Its funny how easily people are defeated. I wonder how many of them would change their mindset if they just picked up a yoyo and saw that persistence can go an unimaginably long way.
Many people here know that I love my yoyos, that they are one of my many passions in life, that I have started up my own fledgling yoyo company still in its infancy and yet so few know why I do what I do. They ask: Why do I throw? And I myself wonder: Why do I check my pockets for a yoyo before I leave the house just as I would check for my car keys or my phone?
Why?
Because…
…In this community a simple “toy” unites us all. In a yoyo friendships are made; friendships that can span thousands of miles. We bring smiles to each other’s faces. We find pride in our friends when they win a competition or when they land that trick they have been working on for weeks. We welcome newcomers with open arms and yoyo cases and relish the well seasoned player who takes time to share the tricks of the trade. We exchange information on how to throw, how to care for one’s yoyos, where to find that one elusive yoyo and at times more often than one would believe we are there for the other moments where life may not be so fun.
Because we are a community tied together by a polyester string at the end of which a yoyo spins.
I do it because in all of this complex, convoluted, so often confusing journey of life it makes me take a step back and realize how simple things can be; how hard work will pay off with a better attitude and that friendship is an incredibly important aspect of life we can easily forget.
I do it because no matter what time of day it is, no matter how I am feeling, no matter what my “To Do” list may hold I can always reach into my pocket or my bag or my desk drawer and find that one little “Toy” on a string and know that for that time I will accomplish whatever I put my mind to...and succeed!
