Remember to play

What is it about today that makes it different? It seems this day is the same as the day that came before it, but the energy is different. Might not be the day that is different, maybe it’s me that has changed. If it is me that has changed, why do I seem to be afraid of the same things?

I see the light passing through the curtains and playing on my bedroom walls. The birds outside are playing on the branches, and they make it clear that they are enjoying this day. This reminds me that I too like to play. I believe we all like to play, or at least we all did as children.

As we grow up we convince ourselves that being an adult means you need to become more serious, give up play, and focus on the responsibilities. In doing so, we fail to see the benefits that play can bring to adulthood. The most important is stress management.

Your brain will always ask for relief after activities that make it feel overworked, and the easiest way to provide relaxation is by playing. It’s even better if you manage to add play to your work. When you play, your mind is free to wonder, and you might be surprised by the solutions it can come up with, for problems you’ve been trying to solve for a long time.

We do our best work when we are allowed to be creative, in the way we do it and with the solution we use. By mixing play into our work, we allow ourselves the liberty and the benefit of making work fun. We spend a big part of our time alive working, so making work fun should be a priority for any of us.

To accomplish this, we must first give up the belief that being an adult should be all work and no play. Playing is important for your wellbeing, it can make fun of even the most boring things, so don’t be afraid to play.

What if I’m not afraid? What if what I’m feeling is only a memory of the fears I had yesterday? We all have the bad habit of remembering all of our fears every time we meet similar problems to the ones that have created the fear.

I’m working on giving up on this bad habit, but giving up parts of who I am, even if it’s for my own good, proves to be more difficult than expected. I’ve lived with these fears for a long time, and every day I remembered and relived them. That was my choice, an unconscious one, but still my choice.

Today I am trying to make a different choice, an intentional one, a choice that will allow me to let in the past all that has happened, and to pay attention to what is in front of me. This different energy is coming from me being aware that there is no reason to keep carrying around everything that has ever made me feel afraid.

I accept and I enjoy feeling so light, hoping tomorrow I’ll remember the way this feels, and maybe I will forget to be afraid.