Life as a Vacation

One of my clients recently moved from Pennsylvania to Florida. The other night she went swimming with some of her friends who have lived down there for many years. It was the middle of the week – a work night – and there they were drinking cocktails and swimming at 11pm. She said, "I feel like I am still on vacation. It hasn't sunk in yet that I live here." To which her friends replied, "Get used to it, because this is how things are down here!"

What if life were the vacation? What if you could live your life playing? You could go to a place each day where you get to play in a way that brings you joy, and in exchange for your kind of play, you would receive a paycheck and some benefits. A few times a year you might travel to another city to play and see how the folks who live there play.

I use the word "play" all the time in my conversations. What does your favorite playground look like? What kinds of games do you want to play? Who do you want to play with? If you can treat life as a game, you'll have more fun with everything you do.

Yes, there is a huge paradox here. Life is serious business. And yet at the same time, you want to enjoy yourself, maximizing your skills and talents, and spending time with the people who bring out your best. So it's about balancing taking your life seriously, creating urgency so that you do what you need to do right now to make your life what you want it to be, while at the same time focusing on play and having fun and enjoying yourself.

People are so stressed out about work, about the past, and about other people. The past is like a heavy anchor keeping you from enjoying the present. The little things people try to control, spending time and energy arguing over, are often senseless. And yet people do it every day! Does it really matter who is right or wrong? Does it really matter what others think of you?

I do not work. I dance. My heart sings when I write and when I work with others to tap into their power. I teach them to get out of their own way, and learn to be their best self. My "work" is pure joy. I cannot envision a better way of using my talents and skills.

What about you? Sometimes it's not the work, but the environment you work in, or your attitude that's your problem. Sometimes it is the work. You do not need to live your life unhappily. You always have a choice. It's your life and you are responsible for the quality of it: the joy and result of your work, as well as the quality and richness of your relationships. It's up to you to create what you want to make you happy. No one else can do it for you. What brings one person joy will not be what brings another person joy.

Take action to create a playful life for yourself. If you find that something is too much struggle or too challenging, ask yourself what "play" would be like, what "effortless" would be like. You may need to find a different playground to play in, or perhaps you need a different playmate. But whatever it is, choose to play.

Play is serious business. And so is life.

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