"You only go around once in life, so ya gotta reach for all the gusto you can get!"
That was the tag line from an old TV beer commercial. Many of you reading this won't remember it, since it was on TV back when you were a toddler, or even not yet a glimmer in your parents eyes. I'm thinking it was mid 70's...when I was 16 -18 years old, when the commercial was running.
So, just what is gusto and where does one find it? Moreover, why is it positioned that you have to reach for it? Those were the questions that my friends and I used to jokingly contemplate. Of course we had our own ideas about what gusto was. Except we were wrong....as youths often are. We thought "gusto" was jumping our motorcycles over terraces out in the pasture, having beer parties and not getting caught, drag racing on the highway, chasing after girls in the next town over, etc....all the silly things that young 16 - 18 boys do. We were actually pretty good at grabbing all of what we thought "gusto" was....at least we all came through it healty, intact and pretty sane.
A few years ago, as an adult, I came to know what "gusto" really is. "Gusto", as defined by yours truly as an adult, is whatever makes you happy. Some are lucky enough to be doing what they love and what makes them happy, for a living....some of us aren't. But, despite it's macho sounding name, "Gusto" doesn't have to be anything physical or dangerous....it can be as sedate as planting a flower or playing a guitar....if that is what you like and it makes you happy. So, "Gusto" can be found in the big things and the littlest of things. In simple terms, "Gusto" is taking part in the joys of your life, whatever they may be......from playing with your dog, to parachuting out of an airplane and everything inbetween.....even "stopping to smell the roses" occasionally, is reaching for "gusto". It's easy to get caught up in the complications of life these days. Reaching for the "gusto" can sometimes get put so far back on the back burner, that we forget that it's there....just waiting for us. We all need to reach out for it once in a while.
This afternoon I go back to the dentist, to get a crown put on the tooth I broke a few weeks back. It's going to be truly superb fall day, with temps into the 70's. I'm going to ride my motorcycle in to town and back. It's only 6 miles to town....so 12 miles round trip....but that will be 12 miles of "gusto" for me. Like the commercial said, "Ya gotta reach for all the gusto you can get"...even if it's only 12 miles at a time!
That was the tag line from an old TV beer commercial. Many of you reading this won't remember it, since it was on TV back when you were a toddler, or even not yet a glimmer in your parents eyes. I'm thinking it was mid 70's...when I was 16 -18 years old, when the commercial was running.
So, just what is gusto and where does one find it? Moreover, why is it positioned that you have to reach for it? Those were the questions that my friends and I used to jokingly contemplate. Of course we had our own ideas about what gusto was. Except we were wrong....as youths often are. We thought "gusto" was jumping our motorcycles over terraces out in the pasture, having beer parties and not getting caught, drag racing on the highway, chasing after girls in the next town over, etc....all the silly things that young 16 - 18 boys do. We were actually pretty good at grabbing all of what we thought "gusto" was....at least we all came through it healty, intact and pretty sane.
A few years ago, as an adult, I came to know what "gusto" really is. "Gusto", as defined by yours truly as an adult, is whatever makes you happy. Some are lucky enough to be doing what they love and what makes them happy, for a living....some of us aren't. But, despite it's macho sounding name, "Gusto" doesn't have to be anything physical or dangerous....it can be as sedate as planting a flower or playing a guitar....if that is what you like and it makes you happy. So, "Gusto" can be found in the big things and the littlest of things. In simple terms, "Gusto" is taking part in the joys of your life, whatever they may be......from playing with your dog, to parachuting out of an airplane and everything inbetween.....even "stopping to smell the roses" occasionally, is reaching for "gusto". It's easy to get caught up in the complications of life these days. Reaching for the "gusto" can sometimes get put so far back on the back burner, that we forget that it's there....just waiting for us. We all need to reach out for it once in a while.
This afternoon I go back to the dentist, to get a crown put on the tooth I broke a few weeks back. It's going to be truly superb fall day, with temps into the 70's. I'm going to ride my motorcycle in to town and back. It's only 6 miles to town....so 12 miles round trip....but that will be 12 miles of "gusto" for me. Like the commercial said, "Ya gotta reach for all the gusto you can get"...even if it's only 12 miles at a time!
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
kristie:
Hey! She beat me by a minute!
laceyglove:
^ she only wishes she had my mad skill.