Play Takes The Pressure Off

One of the purest joys we have available to us in life comes through play. When we see the world with child-like wonder and use our imagination, when we allow ourselves to get lost in an experience, when let our guard down and our uncontained personality comes out, we invite play into our lives.

As adults we need to make more of an effort to play. And I’m not necessarily talking about playing sports or board games or thinking about play as an action, but play as a spirit. Anything can become play when you bring a more playful energy to it. 

In many cases, play becomes more natural when you’re in an environment that welcomes it. Maybe you have a friend whose way of being brings it out of you, a child or nephew that you can be silly with, or a dedicated activity that you do for the fun of it. We can find a more playful spirit when other people model it for us, giving us quiet permission to lean in.

When you play you take the pressure off. You can still compete in a sport, but when you’re playing in it you’re also approaching the game with more flow. You can take a sales call and see it more as a dancing duel of conversations rather than there being an agenda to it. Things become play when you’re less attached to what happens and feel free to explore being in the process of doing it. It’s what makes time pass without even realizing it.

What’s interesting about play is it makes things more fun, and when things are more fun, you resist them less. The unconscious mind genuinely seeks the pleasure of having fun. Not to ruin it, but making things more playful and fun is also a real strategy for making something more likely to happen. You’re more motivated to do things you enjoy, and play is joyful.

Like all things, there’s a time and place for it. Life is full of variety and different settings call for different energies. Some people who are playful about everything are taken less seriously, and that has its own set of consequences. The right amount of play in your life is unique to you, your personality, and your goals.

All this to say, given where most people fall on the spectrum, it’s very likely that play is underrepresented in your life and adding more of it is an opportunity to fill it with more richness. If you want to explore that, consider these two places to start: What do you have lined up for today that you want to make lighter or more fun? And what do you typically take too seriously that you can invite a more playful spirit into?

I’m going to the gym today, and instead of doing the same old exercises, I’m going to play on some new machines and see how it goes!

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