Learn To Love Play - Don't Let The Hard Times Dictate How You Live

Last night, my daughter said the most wonderful things to me:

"Daddy, I want to go to sleep!

"Daddy, we should play softball every night!"

"Daddy, I love playing with you!"

"Daddy, I love you!"

If you can believe it, these were all said within a span of just a few minutes. 

Not that we are an inactive family, but we haven't been the most fastidious in keeping up on play and being physically active. I mean, we have all been there. We all have times, or bouts, where life just

seems to kick us in the ass: multiple reports or work projects are due, your children's school has a whole bunch of extra work, etc... etc..

In these times it's far too easy to revert to a simple microwavable dinner (not that these are innately bad, I'm just setting the scene :P); eat food while trying to do work at the dinner table, while everyone has their head stuck starring at an electronic device; rush off to do work; and then... and only maybe, have a few minutes to plop down in front of the TV or play a video game.

Unfortunately, this is far too often the scene... and my family is no exception. However, it doesn't have to be that way. Yes, there will be stressful and hard times. I am not saying let's all hold hands and sing Kumbaya (surprisingly I spelled this word correctly without checking Google - Woohoo!), and that's all it takes, but what I am saying is that we can reduce the hard, stressful days where family passes each other in the house practically acting like strangers. I am saying let's increase the good, productive days.

I have had the real pleasure, and good fortune of electronically meeting some very special individuals in the last half year, and they have helped me indirectly to see the things that were sitting right in front of me, but didn't realize. One such individual, Dave Kittner, helped to rekindle that passion for physical activity, sport, and simply moving more. He is a real inspiration.

In the last few months, my family and I have fallen SOOOO far behind on our "regular" TV shows it is incredible... and frankly, I couldn't care less. Tonight, even though I spent four hours with our SMSA warm-up clinic, I came home and after dinner my daughter, her friend, my wife, and myself went outside and played ball. Yes, played. We didn't do drills, we just had a blast. Even my daughter's friend's parents came and joined us for 30 minutes or so. I watched my daughter, on her own, have sheer joy and pleasure from placing a ball on a tee, and hitting the ball while I fielded them in our front yard. We literally did this for nearly two hours... AND HAD A BLAST! And then, right after, that is when my daughter said those four special sentences from earlier:

"Daddy, I want to go to sleep!

"Daddy, we should play softball every night!"

"Daddy, I love playing with you!"

"Daddy, I love you!"

I tell you, a father could not ask for more.

Get out there, play with your family, re-learn (if you need to) just how much you love spending time with one another, and how much you love just "doing",
 rather than sitting :)