Passion

OK, Case, your first 10 days have not been dull.

We've felt the aftershock of a nearby earthquake, dealt with the effects of a passing hurricane, and, as I type this, your first day alone with Mom is being spent amid a power outage. Add in two losses by the Bears, including an embarrassing one on national television, and that's a whole lot of disaster packed into a life that has yet to encompass a fortnight.

Granted, those are preseason losses, but unlike earthquakes and hurricanes, Bears defeats are regularly occuring disasters you will have to learn to deal with. Unless you follow your mom's lead and become a Broncos fan, a disaster in its own right. (Potentially true trivia note: As you grow older, you may hear the name Tim Tebow. Just so you know, Mr. Tebow was a legendary college football player who was unfairly placed in an impossible situation after being drafted in the first round by the evil dark lord Josh McDaniels. He kicked around the NFL for a number of years, enjoying a cup of coffee with several teams, before he found work as the guy in charge of upkeep for Kyle Orton's beard-trimming kit. But, disillusioned with the lack of work that entails, he eventually faded from public view, until resurfacing as media adviser to Ryan Leaf during his unsuccessful bid for governor of California; he lost to former Raiders owner Al Davis, who won despite being dead since 2017.)

It may be, Case, that you find sports is not your thing. If so, that's cool. All joking aside, it's important you discover various passions and find the time to indulge them. If you're very lucky, like your Grandpa Pallister, your work and your passion (for him it was fighting fires) will be the same. But for most of us, work is work and play is play. And keeping them separate is healthy, for mind and body.

Whether it's sports, music, reading, cooking, health and fitness or jumping out of airplanes, find what you like and do it a lot. That sounds simple, but as you grow into adulthood and the life of responsibility -- for yourself and others who make up your universe -- takes precedent, it becomes increasingly difficult to stop and smell the roses. As I mentioned previously, enjoy the moment, of which you will be presented with many. If spending Sundays watching NFL games fills you with joy (and other assorted emotions we'll not get into right now), as it has for me since childhood, then dive in. Whatever it is, be passionate. I guess that's my point here. Be passionate about life. Humans are prone to regret, but the best way to avoid the what-ifs is to find joy in the everyday, the little things that make up the majority of our lives.

I will dream a thousand dreams regarding what might be in store for you, Case. But all I really want is for you to be happy. Find what makes that so.