WORK AND PLAY

Growing up I saw life to be divided up into two simple categories, work and play. Work pretty much entailed those things adults wanted me to do. Work many times included things that I was not interested in or good at. While I was ‘working’ I could get a task accomplished but I certainly was not fulfilled in doing it. Play on the other hand consisted of things I wanted to do. Play ignited my passion. Play made me come alive. Occasionally adults asked me to do things that were fun but for the most part work was, not fun. ‘Little Billy’ thought work and fun were opposites of the same coin. When people get older the adult/child roles shift to teacher/student roles. Similar dynamics remain the same, that is, students are forced-fed information that is of little interest to them. A student can take a class ‘under protest’ and pass it, but there is little to no satisfaction. There are certain subjects however that ignites a young student’s interests and in these subject areas, students excel and they actually have fun. As the years increase the teacher/student roles give way to employer/employee role. Again, similar dynamics remain the same--many, many people find themselves in dead end jobs that do not produce the inner joy of a child at play or the academic stimulation of a student who excels.

I have thought about why people go through life in “work mode” (a sabotaging default button that kills passion) rather than “play mode” (which ignites passion). There are reasons. First, people are creatures of habit. When given the chance to try something new, most people confine themselves to the familiar. People in this category lack a support team that will be there for them when they fall down. Second, people conform to the life scripts that have been imposed on them by others. When this happens, a person is no longer an active and engaging participant of life but rather, only an actor who recites the lines of some nameless and faceless writer. Third, and sadly, some people actually choose something they know is far less than fulfilling.

I will close off “Work and Play” now because I want to use these thoughts as a platform to answer the question, “What are you worth?” in the next couple of postings. In upcoming postings I will do my best to convince you that life is worth a risk. People, jobs, dreams are worth the fight. Hint: people who see worth and value in their lives are willing to venture beyond the familiar; write and deliver their own lines and are willing to risk the future even if they die trying!