Tips to Help you Play More
1. Play has no ultimate point to it. We adults so quickly turn play into something that has an end goal. Most of us have hobbies or activities that produce outcomes, where there is an end goal, a final product or experience. Yet play does not concern itself about tangible results or self improvement, play focuses on this moment in time and fully, thoroughly enjoying it.
2. Let go of your competitive spirit. Part of growing up is learning to care about whether we win or loss, whether we did our best and how we can improve; but in its purest, play is about fully enjoying the activity at hand without any thoughts, let alone concerns about success.
3. Most of us can play while we are on vacation but playing during our daily lives is a bit harder, so grab the vacation spirit and practice playing. Practice some form of play every day, no matter how tiny – even if it is simply having a good, deep laugh for a few minutes.
4. One of the upsides of play is that the length of time spent playing doesn’t matter so much. So when you are playing put away your watch, your phone, etc… and disconnect from the very adult sense that you don’t have enough time to be doing this. If you need to, set a timer for a set number of minutes, this way you can play without worrying about the passage of time – the timer will let you know when you need to resume your more serious life.
5. Enjoy playing. Try not to make the practice of playing a chore or something that you feel good about doing and guilty about forgetting. Simply play, simply enjoy.
My 5 Tips on Being a High Caliber Friend
1. Initiate. You most likely have a busy life that occupies your thoughts, attention and energies from sun-up until sundown – making it hard to stay connected with friends; but take a few moments and initiate contact. Rather than waiting for your friends to contact you, make the first move and reach out.
2. Don’t rely too much on Facebook. Social media is a wonderful way to stay up-to-date about the happenings in the lives of your friends, but it does not allow for intimate one-on-one time. So make some room for uninterrupted one-on-one time, where more than pleasantries or superficial news can be exchanged. If you don’t live near your friends or can’t see them face-to-face then write an in-depth letter or have a long phone call.
3. Listen more, listen actively. Focus fully and intently on what your friend is saying. Focus less on what you want to say, on what is going on with you and immerse yourself into the world of your friend. Let your listening display your genuine curiosity about and interest in the happenings of your friend.
4. Give less advice. Unless specifically asked, keep your advice to a minimum – rather focus on furthering the conversation with questions, validating comments, thoughtful reflections. All too often we prematurely end conversations by giving advice, telling our friends what they should or shouldn’t be doing. Skip the advice and extend the conversation.
5. Remember the little things and follow up. Pay attention to the minor events in your friend’s life as by definition, they happen far more frequently than major ones and are wonderful opportunities for showing your friendship. Checking in and following up about a minor experience is an easy way to start a conversation, show that you care and displays that your friend is important to you.
My 5 Tips on Managing Your Post-Work Exhaustion
1. Every time period has had its pluses and minuses. One of our pluses is that many of us have countless conveniences, for example heat and air conditioning, and one of our minuses is that work is a dominant part of our lives. Work takes a mighty toll – be it physical, mental, emotional or time wise. If you can recognize that this a part of our modern world, then your post work exhaustion no longer becomes a reflection of your personality but rather a part and parcel life, making it easier to accept and manage.
2. Re-phrased, let go of having to get rid of your after work exhaustion; grant yourself permission to be tired – now we can talk about how to truly live your non-work week day hours.
3. Pick one night a week and make it a no chores, no TV, no computer night and spend your after work hours doing something fun, something out of the ordinary or silly. Cook a lovely meal, sit outside, gaze at the stars, play a board game, call a friend and gab…..
4. Shift your focus from what you accomplish in any given day to what experiences the day held. Being tired can make it difficult to accomplish a large amount of tasks but being tired does not block you from having a quality experience while you accomplish a reduced number of tasks.
5. Do one thing after work that is important to you – no matter how small or minor it may be. Whether it is playing with your kids or pets for a few minutes, reading your book for ten or carving out time for spirituality – doing one thing of meaning redefines your after works hours from being a time of exhaustion to being a time of enrichment.
Courage
Courage means feeling your fear, uncertainty or nerves and behaving in-line with your life values, your priorities or compass.
Rest and relaxation
This opinion – that time spent rejuvenating is wasted time – seems to be a rather popular one; however, every relationship – including the relationship you have with yourself – requires some good ole R & R.
Having fun even when the money is tight
It is entirely possible to enjoy yourself without spending a dime.
Emotions Unveiled: The Component Parts of an Emotion
Knowing the existence of the 5 components of an emotion will broaden your understanding of your emotional life and give you an element of choice.
Chores, chores, chores
Chores, unfortunately, are a part of adult life and to-do lists know how to multiply. While I am not so sure that you can eradicate chores from your daily life, there might be a way to reduce the drudgery involved in these tasks.
It’s No Longer, “Two Roads” That Diverged
Finding calm and certainty within our opportunity rich society can feel like an impossible and daunting task.
Patience: Angelic Virtue or Product of Non-Angelic Frustration?
The old adage states that patience is a virtue, which of course it is, however the adage does not make known that patience is not born from patience but rather frustration.
