Play

When do we change over? When does our life become more about seemingly performing regular duties rather than play? I am tired. I daydream about taking a nap, or even better, sleeping for hours on end. As a kid, I never want the day to end. I wanted to be awake as long as my little eyes could stand. When do we, as adults, go from defying our bedtime to wishing someone would actually send us to bed. 

As a kid, I wanted to do nothing but play; all day long and hopefully as late into the night as I could get away with. It didn't matter what the weather was like, I wanted to be outside. If I was confined to the house, I made up games. When bed time rolled around, I turned a flash light on and would continue building with my Legos, or sorting my baseball cards, or putting together my puzzle. In the morning, I wanted to get up as early as I could so I could get back to my playing. 

Never, never, never, when I had a free moment did I think, oh I want to sit down and rest. I could think of anything better to do than rest! My friends and I used to build obstacle courses out of Cheese It's. We had to race through the obstacle course without using our hands. We would bob for apples in the back yard. We would pretend we were super heros and climb across the top of the jungle gym. Having a brother also kept me busy. We damaged the entire house wrestling. We played basketball on the nerf hoop hanging on the door. Even the not so fun games, like when my brother, Nick, would tie me up in my sweatshirt and roll me down the stairs, was better than being asleep! 

But now, I long for resting time, although that longing is rarely fulfilled. Why is this happening? What happened in the past ten years to completely change my outlook. I think a lot of life steps in the way. Whether it is the stress a career brings, financial burdens, or general upkeep, something significant changes the way we all look at and go about life. 

I am challenging myself, and I'd like to challenge you, my eight readers (yes, I gained one!), that the next time you feel like sitting down and resting, don't. Don't do it! Play instead! I would much rather play with Jeff around. I like to wrestle with him because I can definitely kick his $*@. I guess I will just have practice my moves on my throw back 80's wrestling buddy until I can use them on Jeff for real! Look at that! I already have plans to play!