Let’s call him Jake. He’s smart, funny and has a great sense of humor. He takes each moment as it comes, rarely fazed by challenges. The thing I  love most about him is that he knows how to have a good time.  I’ve never met a person who seems to have as much fun for fun sake as Jake does. He’s clearly my hero. And by the way, did I mention he’s nine years old? Now I know what you’re thinking–he’s nine years old;  of course he wants to have fun. Kids his age are playas by nature, right? I thought so too until I really started to observe  him. When I did, I came to the conclusion that not only is my man serious about play, but he could teach me a thing or two about how to add more play to my own life. Let me show you what I mean. A while back, I went to a holiday party with Jake. I was there for the food but clearly Jake had other plans because as soon as we crossed the threshold, he  took off running. And I mean top speed. Before I could process that he was no longer walking by my side, I see him walking down a steep flight of stairs BACKWARDS without holding on to the rails. Now, you parents might be yawning now because you see this kind of behavior all the time. But see, I am not around young kids a lot so I literally freaked out. I thought for sure he was going to bust his head wide open but when I looked in his eyes all I saw was, well,  joy and no fear. This  leads me to the first lesson Jake taught  me. People who are serious about play know that if you are willing to get creative and take a risk,  adventure is literally everywhere.

The teaching didn’t stop there. Later on that evening, Jake figured it was time to really get the party started so he got up walked up to a group of young boys he did not know, whispered a few words and before I knew it had organized some sort of game of tag/hide go seek. Lesson two: Fear of rejection and failure is the enemy of play. If you are serious about play, you gotta be willing to try something different, meet new people, and be willing to move on if people don’t get you.

Throughout the night, Jake bounced from one game to next, exploring, laughing, stopping, going until I thought he would collapse from exhaustion. But he never did. It looked like he became more energetic as the hours passed. Final Lesson: Serious playas don’t suck the life out of fun by overthinking or overplanning. They go with the flow, confident in their ability to find the fun in every experience.

There was a time when I wanted to be known for being “on top of my game”.  But Jake has helped me see that it’s just as important to know how to play games and embrace all the fun life has to offer. Yeah, I’m still serious about work but thanks to Jake, I’m also serious about play.