The Importance Of Play

As I come toward the end of my time in Africa I'm coming home with a fresh reminder of the importance of play in life.....

Last week, alongside a group of 20 new friends I climbed Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. With a lot of downtime in the evenings and no wi-fi we went back to games, jokes and storytelling....

And it was so refreshing! 

I find myself guilty of spending a lot of my time thinking about the future and planning ahead...

I've gotten better at leaving the past in the past and don't dwell on regrets of mistakes. I instead just try to learn and move on. 

That being said, I do need to keep getting better at being in the present. 

When we play, we come into the now- but how often do we allow ourselves to play? 

After climbing Kili I've come out to Zanzibar for a few days and have been inspired by the smiles and humour of the locals, particularly the kids. 

Yesterday I joined them for a game of 5 a side football (which is unsurprisingly difficult in flip flops!)

As kids we tend to do things just to do them. There isn't an agenda or a need to achieve anything, instead we just do what we enjoy. 

Sometimes as adults we can lose that. 

Targets, deadlines and outcomes are important in life and give us structure and discipline, but white space of enjoyment and play where you don't have to get anywhere is hugely important too. 

For me Jiu Jitsu, surfing and mountaineering provide me with this space and a journalling prompt I start every day with is "Today I'm excited for...." which allows me to focus my attention on fun and excitement. 

Almost counter intuitively most great ideas don't come when we are looking for ideas, instead they come when we are relaxed and away from stress or 'fight or flight'.

How might more play in your life positively impact you and what might that look like?

Keep Moving Forward, 

Pat