Thursday; March 5
Today is a historic day. On this day in 1963, the Hula Hoop was patented – and life hasn’t been the same ever since. According to an article I read, it began to be marketed by Wham-O back in 1958, but the patent was granted to Arthur Melin and Richard Knerr in the 1960s. (These were the same guys who invented the Pluto Platter – aka Frisbee – back in 1957.) I don’t know how many millions of units of these plastic rings have been sold; but the Hula Hoop is firmly established in Americana. I have to be honest, I have never been really good at hoola-hooping, but I believe it can teach us a lesson about life. The key to keeping a hoop spinning is to stay active. As soon as we stop shimmying and shaking, gravity takes over and the toy falls to the ground. The only way to keep playing is to keep moving. Isn’t there a parallel in life? If we hope to stay in the game, we have to keep moving. Idleness can cause us to lose our zeal and g...