Take this step and it will set you on a path to a lifetime of joy and excitement
Ferdinand Porsche, the creator of the most perfect lines, the smoothest curves in history, a smile that melts your heart and butt that says catch me if you can, that emits sounds equal to a symphony once said: “we don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing”! You might be a fan of the cars, of that adrenaline rushing through your veins, but you do not need to be to make these words your life’s motto.
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing”!
We start our life off, carefree and full of creativity, energy and bursting ideas, we never miss an opportunity to play or see the beauties of life. Everything is new to us and we must discover it, we must make sense of it, while never losing a playful attitude. We approach life as a playground, willing to go up to anyone or anything to make sure we are entertained and learning by playing, we own all the power and have no ounce of negativity weighing us down, the world is our oyster filled with pearls.
As we grow older, we unfortunately often lose these traits, because we believe we need to act and be a certain way to be respected by society, to be an adult, to take on responsibilities. By doing so, we do not realise how much we give up, how we force ourself into a little box, how we narrow our gaze on life and its opportunities, on our self-development and maybe even our self-worth. We steer ourselves down a path, filled with burdens weighing us down, moments we regret because we never took action, we tend to lose sight of what is important. Life can not only be fun and games, as we also do have our responsibilities; we have people depending on us and we need to make a living, I do not argue that. But who says you can not combine the two? Why can you not be a child at heart and still be a responsible adult?
Not forgetting how to play, means seizing the moment not being a slave to what we think society expects of us, but taking that leap of faith in ourselves. It means that you should make time to follow your dreams, hobbies and passions, it means going up to a stranger and taking that first step, it means having no fear of rejection and first and foremost living in the moment.
How often do we look back on a year and regret the things we didn’t do and didn’t say, the paths we were too afraid to take.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Being a grown-up doesn’t mean life becomes just a shade of black or white, but it is filled with shades of colours and yes sometimes also shades of grey. We can be responsible, provide and care for others, we can be an amazing leader or employee and still have that playful child at heart. Why do we wait for a midlife crisis to buy the car we always wanted? If we never lose the inner-child, there will never be a midlife crisis, because life is still exhilarating and exciting, we are still filled with energy and creativity. You alone hold the power to get out of your negative funk that you might be in, or the hours spent watching meaningless TV or playing video games, the bad mood you are in and negative outlook. We are the guardians of our destiny, you owe it to yourself to live life to its fullest, so why not start by playing again?
‘Often the best version of yourself is the one you dreamt of being as a child, then you grow older and tend to forget your true self, the good news is the child will always be within you, it never goes away, you can always find it again’ said to me by my dear friend Radia. Start with a little step and grow it from there, just like Ferdinand once did, building his dream out of the parts of a VW beetle, you too can build your dreams…
