I was playing with my little boy this morning, blowing bubbles watching him catch them with a look of pure joy on his face and I thought “when did life stop being so much fun”. When he hears a plane he stops what he’s doing and looks up to the sky and watches it go overhead. Just because. When he spots a ladybird, he stops what he’s doing and watches it (and pokes it!). Just because. When any music comes on, he stops what he’s doing and does a little wiggle. Just because…I think we need to get some of that back.
We get so caught up in the day to day of life. Working, eating, cleaning (sometimes!). Even stuff that’s meant to be fun can easily become business. I enjoy taking photographs, but with each one I’m thinking about whether it could be made into a birthday card, or what frame it would look good in. When did I last do something I enjoy just for the sake of it? If you watch a child play it’s all about the doing, its not for rewards.
Sure life is busy (I won’t go on about that anymore than I already have!) and we have demands on our time. The killer for me is “I have kids, I have responsibilities. It’s just not that simple”. A noble, and worthy excuse. But not good enough in my book. Before coco pops was born Dan and I were discussing what we wanted for our child. To be happy was pretty much it. To know and be happy being who he was, and to enjoy life – to not be weighed down with life’s difficulties. And yes I can do my best to create an environment in which he’s protected, where he can grow, learn, and play, but there’s surely so much more enjoyment to be had, for him and me, when I get down on my hands and knees and just have fun too.
So I’m not in any way advocating abandoning our responsibilities or not working hard, but lets have a bit more fun while we do it. My challenge is, once a day do something just for the sake of it. Stop and watch a bird flying. Play with a dog. Watch a youtube video of someone falling over. Whatever it is that makes you smile. Do it.
bethanywheeler 