We all need a little reminding, to live a little
Can you guess what the healthiest emotions are?
jacqueline ‘s letter is sobering.
Her words underscores a problem many of us, adults, face as current culture propels us towards becoming metric obsessed, optimization addicted machines.
I can speak for myself. I’ve been so focused on self-optimization I, at times, forget to allow myself to live a little.
It’s easy to get caught up in today’s healing and self-help movement because the promise is so compelling. Nirvana is the holy grail, but happiness, stability and joy is what we’re hoping is waiting for us on the other side of all this self-enhancing. But what if it’s never guaranteed?
Like most things in life, it’s a balance—a yin and yang—sometimes too much of a good thing can end up being what derails us. Did you know you can overdose on Vitamin D?
Like Jacqueline, I’ve been guilty of sacrificing genuine human-to-human connections in the name of self-discipline over my routines. I got carried away by my commitment for progress and productivity, I forgot to allow myself to enjoy life instead.
There were many social invitations I turned down, because I didn’t want to disrupt my 5AM wakeup calls. There were many times I left dinner parities early to maintain my dedication to Robin Sharma’s glorified 5AM club routine. I was diligent.
But then I also started to feel lonely. I realized upkeep on my self-imposed rules made me isolate myself too. So, I no longer wake up before dawn. I prioritize real life social connections instead.
“Return to play!” is the theme that’s been flashing in my mind like a neon sign in Hong Kong’s skyline.
As adults, we’ve been conditioned to (for a lack of a better term): ‘adult’. Adulting is the expected ‘natural’ progression as responsibilities come our way.
Culture and society has us convinced that play is reserved only for children So I assumed that to become a true adult, I needed to be more serious too. Of course, there’s a fine balance as living only in play mode has it’s downfalls too.
But, as Deepak Chopra remind us, in this conversation with Steven Bartlett on Diary of A CEO, we need to remember to preserve our capacity for childlike joy, awe, and wonder too because these are the healthiest emotions we can preserve.
How?
Listen to the episode you lazy goose. Ha ha.
According to Deepak Chopra, we need to return to our innocence through play.
Play is what preserves joy. To remember that joy is our natural state we must first remember to play for no other goal other than to play.
Children are joyful because they’re mostly always at play. They love to laugh and be surprised. They’re playful because joy is also an evolutionary signal for thriving, as we’ve established last week. That’s why children love to play, because play is how we flourish.
If you observe a child, especially at play, you immediately notice the awe and wonder that’s core to who we are.
Three Quotes I am thinking about:
“If you’re not joyful, you’ve wasted your life.” — Deepak Chopra
“Make joy and self-understanding, self-awareness the fundamental purpose of existence and everything else will follow.” — Deepak Chopra
“Why do we exist? Why do we have the awareness that we exist?” — Deepak Chopra
