Play

Play

There was a time when I was working, I felt I should have been spending more time with my family and relaxing – and when I was with my family and relaxing, I felt I should have been at work!

Have you ever felt the same?

Children play all the time.  They play games with friends, ride their bikes for fun, roller skate and play hide and seek (or tag).  Yet at some point, that all stops.

Playing is about doing something for yourself that will help to renew and energize you. It’s unstructured, creative, and takes you away from your problems and worries.

In my experience, many high achievers don’t play because they feel it’s not productive enough or even selfish (often because they have such little free time). They feel guilty about not working.

But that’s actually backwards.  Playing will make you more productive, happier, and hence more successful in both your career and life.

The whole point of playing is to renew and rejuvenate you.  It’s relaxing yet energizing all at once, mostly because you’re giving your brain some creative time and space to think.

One of the few regrets I have in my life is working long hours – including many weekends - when my children were young.

Like many of you, I felt at the time I needed to earn “x” to pay for “y” and to ensure we had holidays abroad etc. – which we did.

However, I missed the everyday pleasure of spending time with them, watching them grow through various stages, and playing silly games to make them laugh.

Now they are adults we sometimes talk about this – and much to my surprise, they were not even aware of this but remember happy childhoods – so I guess the guilt is just mine!

When talking to patients who come for healing, they often tell me about what’s going on in their lives, and if appropriate I share with them the importance of spending time and energy with the people we love. Don’t give being at work your top priority – and whilst important – it’s just the means to an end.

As George Bernard Shaw once said:

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

With Love & Light,

Roger

“No one can dim the light that shines within”