As I watched the kids playing on the red train caboose museum parked by the bike trail just outside my house, I smiled. At the same moment another afternoon walker on the trail, a man of similar age as me, smiled and said, “Oh, to be young again!” To which I replied with a chuckle “Ain’t that the truth!”
And suddenly I felt a wave of happiness come over me and my shoulder tension eased up, simply being reminded of the joys of being young. What does the phrase, “Oh, to be young again” mean to you? To me it brings back memories of childhood growing up in rural Georgia. It reminds me of playing on the static train museum cars including old locomotives and caboose like the one near my house today. Another reminder of riding bikes or going for walks as I see people doing now. And a reminder of stopping for ice cream at Dairy Queen while taking a break before going back to play. Being young again to me means taking time to not only pause and remember our youth, but also remember that we can still enjoy play as adults. As a matter of fact, play is an important part of life even in adulthood that can help us manage stress, take mental breaks away from tasks and challenges to refresh and come back to the challenges with a different perspective that may help us see patterns and solutions we couldn’t see before. Play helps us to be more creative and innovative in life.
There are so many benefits to incorporating play into our lives, personally and professionally. I’ve written previous blogs on the importance of play. It is an important reminder for us all. And the phrase we often hear or say ourselves when watching kids play, “Oh, to be young again”, is a reminder of how much we long for play. True, we can’t go back in time nor can we go back to our youth. However, we can find ways to play as adults that work for us in this stage of life and provide the same happiness, joy, curiosity, creativity, positive energy, less stress, and excitement that play did as a kid.
Some suggestions for play include sports, cycling, hiking, outdoor walks, adult coloring books, crafts, dancing, other artistic activities, puzzles, crossword puzzles, and much more. Be creative and think about what types of play you enjoy.
So, I encourage you, next time you see kids playing and think, “oh, to be young again”, consider how you can get those positive feelings and experiences again by incorporating play into you life today. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to do and the positive rewards. Give yourself the gift of play, because Your Story Matters.
