Usually when the weather gets warmer, the activities that are available for us teenagers are endless.
We can either head to the beach or ride our bikes around Northwestern’s campus. Unfortunately, I have found lately that, because the weather has started to cool down, my friends and I have struggled to find things to do. Sure, we can always find our way to someone’s basement, but we always end up getting trapped down there.
We sit in a circular formation and stare down at our phones, hoping that someone will come up with a creative idea. Many of you probably can guess how this ends; we never figure out what to do.
The only type of activity someone suggests always revolves around spending money for food. Whether it’s going to get ice cream, grabbing a late bite to eat, or buying materials at Walgreens for baking, I always end up spending at least ten dollars on items that I really didn’t need.
The problem is that most of the time no one actually is hungry or in the mood to bake a very mediocre dessert dish, but we do it any way because all of our minds are tricked into thinking that there is nothing better to do other than spending money.
In reality, if we put our creativity to the test, we could think of so many things to do that don’t involve money.
I mean, really, we could go outside and play a competitive game of football, participate in an intense game of cards, or even huddle around a bonfire. We could put our phones away for once and actually enjoy each other’s company.
I don’t necessarily think that spending money on activities is bad. The last activity that I spent money on that I thought was actually worthwhile was when my friends and I drove down to the city to try archery for the first time.
Although I was skeptical about whether or not the long drive would be worth the twenty dollar archery fee, I was proven wrong.
My friends and I showed up and got to spend an hour by ourselves learning how to put an arrow into the bow and aiming it right on target. I’m not saying that after one hour I became an expert at archery, but I definitely realized that expanding my interests by experiencing different activities is much more enjoyable than sitting in a dark basement.
My friends and I have also made big plans for this upcoming winter to ensure that it is not a boring one. I don’t know if our bucket list will be accomplished, but I sure hope so.
Once it starts snowing, we plan to head down to a close skiing resort like Alpine or Devil’s Head just for the day. We aren’t exactly skiing or snowboarding professionals, but it’s definitely more fun to fail miserably at skiing and fall down that one black diamond that we thought we were able to conquer, than staying back in Wilmette and doing nothing.
Everyone has the ability to think of something creative to do in this colder weather, but it depends on having the motivation to try something new.
Trust me, doing something out of your comfort zone is entertaining and definitely gets you out of that boring rut.