It is a sunny morning here in Boulder and I feel like hoping on my bicycle on going for a nice ride. I have an urge to play and to appreciate the beauty of nature and the amazing mountains here. This urge to play in me is saying don’t forget to have fun. It is so easy to get caught up in life and doing things. I have been very focused on my blog, my other writing projects, our peace company and the consulting I do part-time for another company. All this activity fills my days and lately I feel the child in me is saying, “nurture me, let’s go play”. That call to play always gets my attention because I trust the child in me as an important balancer. I have come to understand that to play, have fun, explore creative ideas, and do the things I enjoy nurtures me at so many levels.
If I don’t nurture myself, who will keep me in balance? The answer is that me taking care of myself and having fun is the right thing to do. Only I know the urging of my heart, my body, my mind and my spirit. This awareness of what I want and need keeps me health and passionate about life. I have come to trust my inner knowing very much and that serves me well. Getting caught up too much in trying and doing can knock me off balance. I like to just be me sometimes and go play.
Why is this important you may ask? Well here are some ideas in support of having fun and playing. The world you and I live in is full of seriousness, accomplishment, meeting goals, keeping up financially, work obligations, making sure everybody has what they want and need and more. Does this sound like a lot to you? It is and add to that you trying to meet the expectations and gain the approval of those around you. This can be overwhelming. What about your own needs; what about time to just be with yourself? That is where having fun comes in. Taking time to play and expressing yourself in fun and enjoyable ways helps you get re-energized and renewed. When you are doing what you love this creates molecules of joy that flow through your body and make you feel healthy and vibrantly alive.
I like the idea of molecules of joy. Like going to a gas station when you run low on fuel; going to the fun station and refueling with joy is needed too.
What are the things you like to do for fun? What things do you need at your fun station? I will tell you what I need at my fun station to give you some ideas: I need a ping pong table, art supplies, lots of colors of paints, pens and pastels, magazines I can cut up, a bike for riding, a car to go visit fun places, a kitchen to experiment in with fun food, a calendar of events to check out, friends who are fun to play with, a pile of money to use for play, musical instruments, a good sound system and DVD player, golf clubs, tennis racket and more.
Have fun and make two lists today. First, make a list of all the fun things you love to do, list everything you can think of. This may take a day or two to remember everything. Then post that list somewhere you will see it everyday. Second, make a list of all the things you need at your fun station and set up it up so you can go have fun anytime you want to or need to. Now the last part; make a commitment to yourself to have more fun. A little bit fun each day would be so good for you, better then any vitamins and so much more fun then being too serious about life.
Let the joy molecules begin there dance in you.
As always I would love to hear of your adventures and especially the fun ones.