"Ferris Bueller, you're my hero."

Strive to be like Ferris Bueller

“How could I be expected to handle school on a day like today?”

One of my heroes from childhood has got to be Ferris Bueller. A kid who fakes being sick so he can have the most outrageous day off in the history of days off. How many times have you faked being sick so you could have a day off? I’m willing to bet that anyone reading this has done it at least once. But more importantly, what did you do with that day off? Ferris Bueller’s answer to that question is what makes him so cool.

“The question isn’t ‘what are we going to do,’ the question is ‘what aren’t we going to do?’”

In one day Ferris did more than most of us do in a month. Actually, he does a few things none of us will ever do. Why is that? Well maybe it’s because your best friend’s dad doesn’t own a 1961 Ferrari 250GT California. But what does your best friend’s dad own? Maybe you should think about taking it for a spin.

“A: You can never go too far. B: If I’m gonna get busted, it is *not* gonna be by a guy like *that*.”

How far are you willing to go? Ferris was willing to be the Sausage King of Chicago just to get a free lunch at a restaurant he would never get into otherwise. Ferris doesn’t let a little thing like not being the Sausage King of Chicago stop him. As far as Ferris is concerned, it’s not who you are, it’s who you want to be. Who do you want to be? Are you gonna let a guy like *that* stop you?

“Never had one lesson.”

Ferris plays the clarinet. He’s never been told how to play the clarinet and probably doesn’t play the clarinet in band class. He plays the clarinet because he wants to. It makes him happy. The horrible, squeaky notes (if you can call them notes) are music to his ears. What’s your clarinet? Why aren’t you playing it?

“I asked for a car, I got a computer. How’s that for being born under a bad sign?”

Ferris’ life isn’t all roses, you know? It’s not like life is perfect for him and that’s how he manages to have such a carefree life. Ferris has problems, like the rest of us. But Ferris doesn’t let those problems get in his way. On the contrary, he uses those problems to his advantage. What are your problems? Can you use your problem to improve your situation? Ferris did. Nine times.

“You’re not dying. You just can’t think of anything good to do.”

Ferris understands that boredom is our own making. And boredom leads to sickness. And sickness leads to fear. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate…wait a minute. Wrong movie. Scratch that. The point is, Ferris understands that the cure for just about anything is a good day off. Not just a day of not working or not going to school. But a day filled with Ferraris and art museums and fancy restaurants and baseball and clarinets. Maybe you’re not really sick. Maybe you just need to sing ‘Danke Schon’ in the annual von Steuben Parade.

“Live moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.