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LAKE WANNABE

Wannabe Lake Is A Metaphor For Life.

Wannabe Inn overlooks the eastern basin of the lake, which spreads southwest like a fat boomerang a mile across at its widest point.  Gouged out by a retreating glazier, lake Wannabe is fairly deep - 100 feet or more in some places.  Five springs, two are hot springs, flowing from the foothills through the forest fill the lake with pristine waters so clear that you can watch fish swim about.  At the south basin, the immaculate water transforms into the Wannabe River after splashing over the power damn that was constructed some 50 years back.  The power generated serves the needs of the Wannabe complex.

About a 100 yards from the Inn porch is the sandy beach swimming area.  An ancient stand of spreading oaks to the left of the beach harbors picnic tables, benches and a hooded stage hosting a variety of presentations. 

The sun breaks over the Wannabe foothills bringing radiant warmth to the brisk morning air.  You are sitting on the Inn porch contemplating going for a swim along with the rest of us who have risen early.  Sun rays glint off the diving platform floating in the center of the eastern basin. 

But, you ask, if the lake is a metaphor for life, why are we not out in the middle of it?  Because life is not an automatic given.  Life, like the lake, is something we choose to participate in.  You can either be involved or let life pass you by. 

Sink or Swim.

First, it is good to know that life is NOT a "sink or swim" deal.  Your being, or essence, is actually living at Wannabe Inn and there is no reason to feel forced into the waters of life.  Your involvement in life is up to you.  As a youngster, I myself have spent a lot of time on the shores of life engrossed in my own little world - a world much more pleasant, by the way.

This is also a serious problem for the ADDer.  Everybody around you, from childhood on up, wants to get you out in the lake, to take the plunge -"What do you want to be when you grow up?"  "I think you're going to be an artist!"  "You need to pay attention and apply yourself - make friends, get involved, do something!"  "The boy is just stubborn, just lazy, just can't do it, he won't apply himself."  Sound familiar to you? 

Lucky for us we can just stay in our rooms at Wannabe Inn - but is this the best way?  A great joy of being human is found out in the lake swimming and diving, and/or gathering under the spreading oaks with friends for food, fun, and fellowship.  It is possible to let a lifetime go by just sitting on the Wannabe Inn porch.  After all, for so many of us life is not that fulfilling.  It seems to bring more pain than pleasure.

It seems like we are forced into the lake of life, because we have to support ourselves, and fulfill our inner social needs.  Why doesn't life work the same for us as for the "normal" world?