I had a long day the other day and I found myself walking around the halls of my job like a zombie, lamenting that I wasn’t outside or with my child.  I realized that I often say no to playing with him because I’m exhausted—even though I’m constantly begging for more time with him.  When we start playing he never wants to stop and I appreciate that because it shows me that there is purpose in play and that we can always push beyond.  At the same time, because he never wants to stop, that often piles onto the exhaustion.  Even if I say yes, it’s still not enough—someone is always demanding more attention.  I know wholeheartedly that I am exhausted because my cup is empty.  Ok, not totally empty, but it is often depleted.  I know I’m in an unhealth environment (and I have for a long time) but this is confirmed when I am up at 3AM to work out every day and I feel great but then automatically feel fatigued when I get to work.  There are places that simply take the life out of us.

When we surround ourselves with light and joy there is always time for play.  We don’t have to shirk responsibility but we also don’t have to take this life as seriously as we do.  Play creates bonds and alleviates stress and offers a creative platform.  But it has to be genuine play that stimulates us, not forced play where we have to give more than we have.  We have to find work that complements us, that allows us to share our gifts but also replenishes that cup so we have the desire and drive to do more.  We need to do what we need to do to fill our cups including taking a day or making something we really love doing a priority.  This is the only way to truly connect, not only with others, but with ourselves.

I could go on a rant about how this society, the way we live today is thrilled to have us exhausted.  That it’s designed to keep us exhausted so we are kept in our place.  I don’t want to go off on my theories about that but I do believe it’s true.  When we are distracted and tired we become complacent and less likely to push for our own desires/dreams or our purpose/joy.  Too often people are comfortable putting those feelings up as the norm—that because the majority of people feel that way that it’s normal.  The truth is that in the animal kingdom there is always a hierarchy, but that is often based on survival—and I have written many pieces about the transfer of the human need to actually survive and the evolution into the ego’s need to survive.  We truly don’t need to waste our energy and resources in this pissing contest of power and the game of who got more.  In fact playing that game feeds into the system even more and perpetuates the cycle.  We need to wake up to our lives and embrace them, love them, and fully live them. To do that we need to play and we need to set boundaries, make time for what is important to us.  You never know, maybe that will be the example to others.