A Real Life Fountain of Youth: Bringing Passion to Your Play

Looking back to when you were a child, what do you think the child you were would say about the adult you've turned out to be? When we're children, our needs and wants are remarkably simple. We want to be happy, and we need the grown-ups around us to provide an environment that will give us the opportunity to do that through play. As we age we still want to be happy, but we look for that happiness in relationships and work and the four walls that we call home. Play is something that we forget to do as we grow older. This may well be the result of the pessimists in our life telling us to grow up and be responsible, or face the consequences. If we're not careful, we're told, we'll end up still living in our parents' house in middle-age, playing video games all day and delivering pizza. Se we work hard, get a job, form adult relationships. Meanwhile, as these responsibilities grow ever larger, a little part of who we really are dies inside of us. A Lack of Passion in Your Life Ages You Would child-you think adult-you was pretty cool? Or would the child you were look at who you are now in disgust and run off to find some much more interesting people to hang out with? When we're young, we focus our passion on playing; it gives us joy, keeps us interesting and passes the time. Take a moment to recall the boring people in your life when you were young. Did you think the grown-ups who spent hours with you at the park, playing soccer, or teaching you to ride a bike were boring? Or was it the ones who simply sat you down in front of the TV with a snack and some paper and crayons while they carried on watching Jeopardy! Don't get me wrong. I'm a long-time fan of Wheel of Fortune. My addiction to that and Jeopardy! trace all the way back to childhood. My long-suffering grandmother had to drag me with her to Bible study, and her (extremely cool) friends would hook me up with Smarties and zucchini bread and that night's pass to testing my intellect. Of the things that stick in my mind when I remember my grandmother and her friends, the time spent watching television is not really one of them. More memorable are the nights they'd get so sick of being stuck indoors that they'd hustle me into the car at 10 p.m. so we could go for a joyride (or maybe, they were just trying to get me to go off to sleep; I'm not sure). I also fondly remember our indoor games of horseshoes when we were snowed-in. Other cherished memories are the times these women (who, incidentally, were all in their 60s or 70s) would rustle all the kids up after Sunday church for a game of kickball. They certainly gave us a run for our money during those games! I'd Have Laughed if Someone Had Referred to These Women as Old… ...And I'd have meant it. The passion and verve they brought to their life-to every piece of their life-kept them young long past the point when society considered them old. They didn't just get through life, meeting their responsibilities and collapsing in front of the TV at the end of the night, although goodness knows they deserved to. They remembered how to play. They played long. They played hard. They played passionately. If you remember how to play, you too could experience the everlasting fountain of youth.

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