Let's Play

When you were a kid, what were your favorite things to do?  Did you like to quietly read a book by yourself?  Did you enjoy trying to see how far you could jump your new bike?  When was the last time you did what you loved when you were 10?  If your anything like me, it's been quite a while.  To be honest, I have to strain my mind just to remember what I loved to do when I was 10 years old!  I havn't thought about it in so long!!  Life, seems to have a way of eroding things like this.  Simple, basic, life giving things that we love, seem to slip away as we get older.... no, that's not right.... as we get busier.  Age really has nothing to do with it.  A great teacher once said, we don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.  Anybody know who that was?

Seriously though, life isn't designed to be ALL work.  Neither is training, or anything for that matter.  It's a balance.  I used to love reading believe it or not.  Piers Anthony's Xanth series.  There are like 20 books and I've read them all.  It's about a magical parallel universe to the state of Florida.  haha!  Everybody had a spell that was unique to them, something they could do uniquely and it was called a 'talent'.  I used to try to imagine what my unique talent would be if I had lived in Xanth.  would I be able to fly?  or maybe heal people?  Why don't I sit around and dream like that anymore?  Because, we used to do that as kids because, for lack of a better word, we were bored.  We didn't have something to do every minute of every day of every month.  We had time to decompress, when was the last time you did that eh?

It's time to do something we used to do on accident, which was great and good for us.  It's time to do it on purpose.  Schedule in some you time, time you can laugh to yourself and listen to your own breathing and heart.  Let yourself get bored in that time.  Don't rush off when you are assaulted 5 minutes in with a million things you just remembered you had to do.  Let those things wash over you.  Write them down if you must and get to them later, but for now, for an hour at least, let yourself get bored.  Talk to God, but not if you don't feel like it.  Read, or not.  Whatever!  don't plan it!  What I think you will discover is that it feels good once you get to that place.  And your creativity and problem solving abilities will sky rocket as a result.  You'll tap into a resource that is amazingly powerful.  The intuitive side of yourself, the truthful and right thinking side, that is always amazing!  You've got to coax that person out.  That genius inside you only shows up when your bored to tears and need to invent a new game or something.  When you slow down and get distracted by your own breathing, right then, BAM the best idea will hit you!  Make some time for your inner genius to work with you, talk with you.  When was the last time you heard from them?

Don't think you have an inner genius?  HAHA!  I can prove it to you.  Go take an hour, schedule it out and get out of your normal environment, and leave your phone behind.  Go to a coffee place you've never been to, or go park your car by the side of a nice road with a view.  And just relax, for an hour.  Bring a pad and paper, NOT a laptop.  No technology.  Nothing more advanced than a pen.  It will feel like the longest hour of your life the first time and when it's over, you'll know exactly what I mean when I say inner genius.  Bring a book if you like, and when you have a thought or idea, write it down and move on.  close your eyes for a few minutes.  can you keep em' closed for even 5 at once?  haha!  Boredom is the gateway to genius, simply because it is the opposite of what we are exposed to every single day.  The bars that keep us from being our truest awesome selves, are busyness, distractions, responsibility, and obligation.  Get away from them for a little while and you'll start to laugh and love more passionately and fully than you have in a long long time.  And most importantly, you'll start to unlock that inner genius that's been taking a nap deep in your hearts deepest corner for far too long.  He is in there, the glorious champion of your life, locked away in your soul, hiding from all your hubbub.  Go send him a message.  Hello, I know it's been a long time, but now I am here, waiting for you, and for the next hour, I am yours... Let's play...