So many of us prioritize tasks we have to, or think we have to, complete to be successful at work or as a parent, spouse, child, sibling or friend. We often forget to prioritize tasks we want to do for ourselves. In fact, as we move from child to student to adult and caregiver, we focus so much attention on our responsibilities that we completely forget what we like to do for fun! Do you remember what you would do for fun, when you had the time or even made time to play? So here’s the challenge …..
Make an all day play date with yourself! I bet so many of you will find all kinds of reasons why you don’t have time to do so. I make that bet because I’ve had so many reasons for not doing so too. It’s actually taken me a couple of years to see this full day personal play date as a viable option for myself. It’s okay to start slow; with 5 to 10 minutes sessions of fun! That might actually make your transition to longer sessions easier, because you’ll start with shorter windows to give yourself time to remind yourself what it is you actually like to do for fun!.
My goal for 2016 is to schedule personal play dates throughout the year. These are going to be days where I have absolutely nothing planned. I want to enter the day with a clean slate – no to do lists, no tasks, no list of fun things that I want to do. All those lists cause me anxiety! I mean, what if I don’t get to all the fun things I hoped to get done that day?! So, I want to wake up, without any expectations. If task lists and to do’s start to creep into my mind, I’m going to work on pushing them away. I want to live in the moment, like I did when I was a kid; before responsibilities caused me to prioritize my responsibilities before my fun.
Today is my first personal play date in 2016! I have no expectations for today. I may do some chores, I may not. I will do whatever feels like the right thing to do when I’m in the moment. I had no plans on writing this blog when I woke up this morning; then I realized, I wanted to share my goal with each of you. I wanted to challenge you to make time for your own personal play dates in 2016. I would love it if you would share some of the fun things you do too. I’d love for you to share this suggestions with your friends, and I really want to hear about what you end up doing for fun.
So far today enjoyed wrapping a gift for a party that is not until NEXT Sunday! It was fun, because I was doing it 1 week ahead of time instead of 10 minutes before the party. I’ve written this blog. I’ve played with ColorForms. Some of you may remember what ColorForms are. Of course, I’m using a modern version, but they are essentially rubber-like reusable stickers, that you can use to create scenes…. OK, so I added a pic of my Sticker Fun to this blog so you’ll know what I’m talking about! I may even decide to play with the Spirograph that I asked for and received from Santa Gregg for Christmas LOL.
So there you have it. Will YOU accept my challenge? Let me know if you do, and let me know what you do!
Playfully yours,
debbie~
