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#033: You don't have to be a child again, but you can embrace the playful spirit of a child

Playfulness helps us to (re)frame everyday situations in a way such that we experience them as entertaining, intellectually stimulating or personally interesting.

David Luescher
2 min read

Hi All!

It's Monday and the start of a new week. Are you rushing and efforting your way through this day?

If yes, today's newsletter hopefully acts as a helpful reminder to embrace the playful spirit of a child again as you go about your day.

Until next week,

David


An idea for you to consider

As children we embodied play.

On your way back home from school, you probably stopped every now and then and were in awe of the way a certain object looked or you were kicking around a pebble stone with your friends trying to explore for how long you can pass that pebble to each other.

Every moment could be filled and lightened up with your vivid imagination and you found a way to be intrigued by your environment.

Play is how we as children learnt and entertained ourselves.

But as adults, we seem to leave that childlike spirit of playfulness behind.

The pressures of adulthood, the responsibilities, and the need to be productive can often take over, leaving little room for play.

We rush through life, taking things too seriously, and forget to integrate play into our daily lives.

Doing so in the long run, life will inevitably feel dull and boring.

But what if we approached life with a more playful attitude?

Allowing ourselves to frame or reframe everyday situations in a way such that we experience them as entertaining, intellectually stimulating or personally interesting?

From an outside perspective our daily life would not look much different, but our internal experience of life will for sure be a different one that will lack attributes such as dull and boring.

Do you dare to embrace the playful spirit of a child again?

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You don't have to be a child again, but you can still embrace the playful spirit that once was a central part of your life.
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Reflect: Then consider sharing this idea with others.

A quote for you to ponder

"The ideal form of work feels like play, but still accomplishes something useful and valuable.” - James Clear
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Use this quote as a prompt to reflect.

An exercise for you to try this week

Take some time aside and follow the “Using playfulness in a new way” exercise for the next seven days.

According to a study on the stimulation of playfulness, the exercise is a tool to boost playfulness in your daily life and to increase satisfaction in your life.

Will you give it a try?

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Use your playfulness in a different way than you are used to (e.g. doing something playful at the workplace, with your partner, or simply by yourself). Set aside 10 minutes before going to bed for writing down what you did. Additionally, take notes of who was involved and how you felt in the situation.
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Reply to this email and let me know how it went.

Before you run off, just one more thing...

If you enjoy these messages, please forward this email to someone who might benefit from reading today's idea.

It takes less than 10 seconds to forward this email, but you might make a huge difference in someone else's life for the next decade.

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