Lets Play a Game
October 23, 2009
Post by Justin Dixon Follow me on Twitter Photo courtesy of Notsogoodphotography
It has been said that there comes a time in every child’s life when they must set childish things aside, but who sets the standard for what is childish and what is not? Every parent who I have asked about the most inspiring thing in their lives I have gotten an answer related to their children.
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” – Picasso
So maybe its time we re-examine what it means to be childish. Maybe its time to pull our old toys out, or more importantly our old dreams.
So lets play a game. Now every good game needs rules. After all if the kid from the down the street keeps making up super powers every time we’re about to win, the game won’t be much fun. Ready? here we go.
Rule #1 Look a little silly. As we get older we get so worried about what others think that we forget to let ourselves be who we really are inside. Using peer pressure as an excuse is very childish. So we aren’t going to do that one here. Instead if others think we’re silly we will just let them play there own game and we will find people that want to play ours.
Rule #2 Dream big. Do you want to be a super hero? Go for it! Help people when you see they need it, and see if you can keep them from finding out that you helped. You want to be the richest person in the world? Why not? The limits that we put on ourselves as we get older are the types of things that bullies say because they don’t want to be outdone. We don’t want to be bullies to anyone, so lets play nice with our dreams, and at least let them believe they can do something. We might get surprised.
Rule #3 Help other people. Games are just more fun when you’re not the only one playing, but lets be a little sneaky about how we get the other people to play. Lets just help them out, and see if they start playing too!
Rule #4Laugh a lot. Its just more fun to be around someone that laughs often. Besides if you can’t laugh maybe you’re just being grumpy and need a nap. Its good for the health too.
Rule #5 Play Pretend If you don’t know how to do something, pretend you can learn it, and start playing like you can. Though please note you aren’t going to lose any points if you accidentally push past a life barrier or something like that.
Rule #6 Have Fun. This idea that putting away childish things means having no more fun is not backed by any evidence. In fact the people I know who have lived awesome lives have tons of fun! Having fun makes you more happy, and in this game being happy is the only way to win.
You get to set how long you play this game, but whatever you do, don’t forget what these rules can teach us about what it means to be a grown up and what it means to be a kid. Just because we grow up doesn’t mean that we have to get rid of the best parts of what being a kid is all about. We just have to focus those awesome parts that are still there (even if they’re a little buried) on moving forward in life.
This is a pretty loose game, and now its your turn. What rules do you want to add?
Entry Filed under: Uncategorized. .
15 Comments Add your own
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <pre> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
1.
Anastasiya | October 23, 2009 at 9:58 pm
I loved this post Justin (mostly because I am a parent I guess :-)
I think I can add one more rule to your list
Use your imagination
Have you ever tried playing with the toys that you were excited about as a child? Most of the time you do not get that “kick” from playing with cars, transformers or barbies when you are an adult. And the reason for this is that we cannot use enough imagination to come with creative ways of having fun with these toys. I am rediscovering the power of imagination now that I am playing with my girls and that makes my life happier and more balanced :-)
2.
Justin- AlittleBetter | October 23, 2009 at 10:27 pm
I thought about adding a rule like that. You had to find as many uses as you could for the things you had. Not only would it increase joy and creativity, but it could also save money. Thank you for adding the rule back in with your comment.
3.
Belinda Munoz | October 23, 2009 at 11:49 pm
Good stuff, Justin.
I’d like to offer another rule if you don’t mind and that is: Build things. Kids love it when they get to play with legos, clippos, wooden blocks and play-doh. They’re on a mission when they get their hands on these things. It’s great for their self-esteem and the tangible product is something to get happy about.
As adults, it would serve us well to build/make things — grow an herb garden, build a bookshelf, knit a scarf on our down time. We might even think abt. giving these away as gifts…
4.
Justin- AlittleBetter | October 24, 2009 at 12:22 am
LOL I asked you to add your own rules. Don’t apologize for it, I want your participation ^__^ Actually part of the inspiration was this awesome TED talk by Tim Brown on the practicality of play for designers. Here’s the link: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/tim_brown_on_creativity_and_play.html
5.
Ideas With A Kick | October 24, 2009 at 5:23 am
This reminds me of a recent conversation with a guy. I was asking him how come he hardly ever laughs, makes jokes or acts a bit childlike. He told me that he is an adult, and life as an adult is serious stuff. I started laughing like a 2 year old.
Great post. We sometimes need to be reminded there is still a child in us.
Eduard
6.
Justin- AlittleBetter | October 24, 2009 at 7:28 am
Whats an adult? ^__^
7.
Karlil | October 25, 2009 at 2:05 pm
I love laughing my ass off. Especially at my own jokes and my stupidity. I know it’s lame, but the people around me love it. And I enjoy as well. In a way I think ‘m blessed for being able to be myself and usually get accepted by those around me. Not that I’m saying it matters much.
8.
Justin- AlittleBetter | October 25, 2009 at 7:31 pm
If the Dalai Lama is any indication than I think you’re in good company.
9.
Krishna | November 3, 2009 at 8:24 am
Ah the Dalai Lama, such an inspiring presence. If, after all he has been through, he can laugh and smile all the time, then so can I!
I still remember an incident from his book :”The art of happiness”. It seems at the hotel where the Dalai Lama was staying, he made it a practice to thank the staff in the hotel whenever he came across them and talk a while when he got the chance to. Within a couple of days, every morning when he got out of his room, there was a long line of hotel staff waiting all the way from his door to the elevator :-), just to see him pass by and talk to him. These were grown men and women who were so affected by the presence and cheerfulness the Dalai Lama radiated that they had to see him every morning :-). What a powerful presence!
Cheers,
Krishna
10.
Barak Rosenbloom | October 25, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Justin,
Great post, thank you!
At some point we start buying into the story that we should “act our age.” This is just parental code for telling a kid acting his age to act like a grown-up instead.
Unfortunately, we’re six or eight or ten when that happens, and we have a child’s perspective of what grown-up looks like. And so we start acting that way, and you’ve just put a big lid on your natural curiosity and playfulness.
Great news: get curious about when you starting “acting your age” and what that means to you. Don’t try to fix it, play with it! And you may just discover how silly it is to be an adult acting the way a six-year-old thinks a grown-up is supposed to.
Barak
11.
Justin- AlittleBetter | October 26, 2009 at 8:14 am
Very well said! Though here’s a quick question, Whats a grown-up? ^__^
12.
Karol Gajda | October 26, 2009 at 2:10 am
“As we get older we get so worried about what others think…”
Yes, yes, yes! And why, why, why?
Yesterday I lied down in the middle of the street. Everybody looked at me. :) It was fun. (Yes, I did steal the idea from Tim Ferriss, but that’s OK.)
13.
Justin- AlittleBetter | October 26, 2009 at 8:03 am
I think it was Einstein who said: “The secret to originality is being good at hiding your sources.” Glad you liked it ^__^
14.
Madeleine | October 30, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Another great post, Justin.
My children are grown-ups now, but I don’t act my age at all with my BF. We get very silly and laugh a lot. Sometimes we have conversations where one of us is speaking for my cat in a silly cat-sort-of-voice. I wonder whether as a person grows old, others don’t expect him or her to act like a grown-up.
15.
Krishna | November 3, 2009 at 8:18 am
A timely reminder, a long serious face is not a ticket to adulthood :-). Some of the most effective people I have seen have humor and yes, childishness woven into their day, everyday.
I still remember the chance I got to spend a week with a young enlightened master out in the U.S. He was laughing, pulling people’s legs and approaching everything with a surprising level of light-heartedness. And yeah, we were all volunteering, attending classes and engaged in activity sometimes long into the night, but it just didn’t seem like work or effort just because no one was serious :-). I still remember that time fondly.
Well, adding a couple more to your list –
- Talk to yourself – we don’t do this often enough as adults, its very liberating, try it :-).
- Feel your body – as we grow older, we seem to lose touch with our body and thats a shame. Just sitting down and being aware of your body can be a revelation…
Wonderful post, Justin, thanks :-).
Cheers,
Krishna