Health, Stress, and Play

Maybe the best way to reduce stress is to lighten-up and play. After all, a lot more is accomplished when people are enjoying themselves than when they are slaving away.

Prolonged stress is corrosive to our body and irritates any weaknesses we have in our psyche. By making an effort to live playfully we help ourselves keep things in perspective, avoid taking ourselves too seriously, enjoy life more, and can still get our work done.

The first thing you might ask yourself when you are stressed is, “Am I taking myself too seriously?” The second thing is, “Is there some way I can turn this day/task/job into play?” This is not meant to trivialize our responsibilities. It is a way of coping effectively with the very stressful world we live in.

Some researchers believe that human compassion and cooperation were developed through play, much as people learn teamwork when on a sports team. If stress is a problem for you, make a copy of these playful quotes and pull them out when you need a reminder to lighten-up:

Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.
~ Khalil Gibran ~

God writes a lot of comedy...the trouble is, he’s stuck with so many bad actors who don’t know how to play funny.
~ Garrison Keillor ~

Life must be lived as play.
~ Plato ~

Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard.
~ Colin Powell ~

It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them.
~ Leo Buscaglia ~

It is utterly false and cruelly arbitrary to put all the play and learning into childhood, all the work into middle age, and all the regrets into old age.
~ Margaret Mead ~

A child who does not play is not a child, but the man who doesn’t play has lost forever the child who lived in him and who he will miss terribly.
~ Pablo Neruda ~

Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.
~ Heraclitus ~

The only thing that ultimately matters is to eat an ice-cream cone, play a slide trombone, plant a small tree, good God, now you’re free.
~ Ray Manzarek ~

If you want creative workers, give them enough time to play.
~ John Cleese ~

Whenever you trace the origin of a skill or practices which played a crucial role in the ascent of man, we usually reach the realm of play.
~ Eric Hoffer ~

I have fun with ideas; I play with them.
~ Ray Bradbury ~