By Rick Banas of BMA Management, Ltd.
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| Kotecki Family Assemble |
I feel fortunate. The test results are in and I only have a mild case of a condition that is curable. I just need to make a few changes in the way I live.
I would not have discovered my problem and what I need to do about it if it were not for Joel Crabtree. Joel serves as Director of Admissions and Marketing for Hillcrest Nursing Center in Round Lake Beach, Illinois. He was gracious enough to invite me to an informational program about the condition that Hillcrest hosted last week.
At the dinner that preceded the program, I had the honor of sitting next to and talking with Carla Bishop, one of the owners of Hillcrest. Among those also in attendance and sitting at our table for dinner were Tammy Temaner-Rosas, Director of Marketing, and Colleen Rios, Dietary Manager, for Heritage Woods of Gurnee, the affordable assisted living community that BMA manages in Lake County, Illinois.
The program was on “Escape Adulthood: Living with Less Stress and More Fun.” Jason Kotecki, who is from Madison, Wisconsin, was the speaker. Jason serves as Champion of Childhood for Escape Adulthood.com, a company that is dedicated to creating awareness of and annihilating a condition he and his wife, Kim, call Adultitis. For the past 13 years, Jason and Kim have been sharing strategies designed to help folks renew their childlike spirit through comic strips, their website, books, videos, and speaking engagements.
I picked up a copy of their book “There’s an Adult in My Soup” at the program. The book contains recipes for cooking up the life of your dreams. The first chapter features an observation from Jason’s friend Michael Scott Karpovich about grown-ups being people who are “done growing.”
Early on in the program last Wednesday we learned from Jason that one of the warning signs of Adultitis is “if your cell phone has become a body part.” Another is “if you take yourself too seriously.”
The average child, laughs more than 400 times a day; the average adult only 15, said Jason
You can get tested for Adultitis and see what stage of this condition you might have for free at Adultitis.com.
The number one problem with Adultitis is that it causes stress, said Jason, and “almost everything we die from has some connection with stress.”
As part of the program, we were given the opportunity to experience one of the recommended strategies for curing Adultitis well before Jason explained the condition.
As part of the sign-in process, we were asked to select a large kitchen utensil. I chose a slotted “spatula” with rounded sides. No other instructions were given.
Then after those in attendance munched on popcorn and cotton candy, we broke one of the “rules of adulthood.” We ate dessert before dinner.
The big, mouth-watering slices of cake came from the Lovin Oven Cakery in Libertyville. Carrot cake was my choice. To add to the intrigue, you had to eat your cake not with a fork or spoon, but with the kitchen utensil you selected. Those that selected a soup ladle really had a challenge. The room was filled with a lot of laughs and clicks of cameras.
We are conditioned that we are supposed to “act our age” and not supposed to eat dessert before our meal because it will spoil our appetite, said Jason. He pointed out that eating dessert first didn’t seem to diminish any of our appetites for the dinner of hot dogs, bratwursts, hamburgers, cheddar burgers and chicken sandwiches that was provided by Fine’s in Libertyville.
Another of Jason’s suggestions for curing, or preventing, Adultitis is to add something childlike to your workplace. I now have a more logical explanation for why I have my kindergarten graduation diploma, complete with angels and stars, hanging in my office alongside my diploma from the University of Detroit.
The actions we take as we live our lives are telling a story, said Jason. His goal is to help us reduce stress, have fun and create memories, and live better stories.
He reminded those of us in attendance that with the work that we are doing in the senior living and assisted living communities and the nursing care centers that we operate, we are helping improve the stories of those we serve.
He encouraged us to step outside of our comfort zone and do things differently.
“Make sure you are still living while you are still alive.”
“Be Brave. Dream Big. Regret Nothing.”
— Jason Kotecki —
All affordable assisted living communities managed by BMA Management, Ltd. are certified and surveyed by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. All assisted living communities are licensed and surveyed by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
“BMA Management, Ltd. is the leading provider of assisted living in Illinois
and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
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