Play! Dang It

The time to play is now. Well maybe not right this minute, but soon, today at the very latest. We spend so much time focusing on the things that have to get done, the must-do's of our life that often we only have time to plan the fun. By the time we get to it we are so busy trying to plan the next day, the next week, the next year, we can't enjoy the moment. Having fun and playing gives us the opportunity to relax in ways that sleep and rest do not.

Taking time to play allows us freedom and a chance to be someone else for a short time. When this happens we are able to not only set aside our worries, our cares and our troubles but we also have the opportunity to refresh our supply of willpower. While at play we are able to turn off our awareness of the propriety of our own actions. In play it is easier to act then to take action. Dr. Leon F. Seltzer comments on this in his blog Evolution of the Self at Psychology Today "While at play, our sense of limitation typically disappears, as does our self-consciousness and self-awareness. Immersed in such a world, we experience our essential freedom."

A lack of freedom is something we feel more and more as we grow older, as we become more responsible and have to take on new rolls in the world around us. As we grow older we set play aside as an ideal activity, something we no longer have time for. As this happens we begin to bring more stress into our lives. This stress just sits and builds getting to be more of a burden. By accepting that time to work and time to play are part of a balanced life we can find ways to let the stress go. As we do so our ability to work improves and our jobs and commitments become easier to bear.

So get out there and play, have some fun and lose yourself in the moment.

Editing project returns: Not dwelling