By Dave Kelly
My six-year-old daughter loves to play a game we call “bears”. We get under the covers in the master bedroom and pretend that it is our cave. We hibernate. We hit the snooze alarm for spring (two more days). We fish in the salmon pond in the upstairs of our cave and we eat sheep burgers (no animals are harmed during this game). We dance around in pretend meadows of flowers and she goes to bear camp and I go to bear work. I think of funny things to say that will make a six-year-old laugh, like going shopping for the “bear necessities”, and we giggle and have a good time.
We usually play when she gets home from school, right before or after dinner, or whenever we can find five spare minutes. That used to be work time when I was in the mortgage business. In fact, all of the time used to be work time. My office has been in my basement since 2001 and my wife used to come downstairs at 9 or 10 at night and wonder when I was “coming home”. It seemed like I never relaxed. In reality, I was pretty stressed out most of the time.
The truth is I did not understand the value of silly. I gave in to stress and let it control my life, my work, and my relationships.
Thank goodness for my six-year-old daughter has taught me how to be silly again and what is truly important in my life.
I hope that there is someone in your life who reminds you how to be silly on occasion, because it sure is a whole lot more fun than being stressed out!
Dave Kelly is a professional speaker and host of the website Gonzospeaks.com, and a contributing writer here on OutOfYourRut.com. His career story is also a feature here at Professional Speaking—Turning a Hobby Into a Career. Dave is available for speaking engagements either through his website or by emailing Kevin at OutOfYourRut
