I Can Do What I Want Challenge! You’re never too old! Mini-trampoline!

I’ve noticed that the older I get, I hear my peers saying that they’re too old as an excuse not to try something. And there are so many complaints about feeling tired and having aches and pains. I think it’s because we’ve had so many responsibilities that our self care has been neglected, other things take priority, like working extra to pay for college tuition, caring for elder family members, dealing with difficulties in relationships, divorce, career transitions, health issues, unexpected major life changes.

So much happens from age 30 on!

I look back and wonder how I managed! No wonder I’m chubby and tired, lmao!

We lose ourselves while taking care of everything else 🙂 It can’t be helped sometimes, it’s a whirlwind!

Eventually though there comes a time where we can catch our breaths again and take inventory. And these spaces come in fits and spurts until one day we get a bigger space like I have now as of summer 2018, an empty nest. What excuses do I have now? Too old? Nah, never!

The I Can Do What I Want Challenge came about in one of those fits and spurts spaces. I’d lost my job, cashed out my 401k in order to take care of me and my health which I’d been neglecting due to all of the life changes and responsibilities.

I brainstormed on what thing I could do that was simple, easy, fun and economical. And I said eff it! I don’t care how old I am, or how silly I look, I’m trying something different and maybe it’ll inspire others to do the same. To open to the idea that we can do more of what we want than we realize. That we can still play, jump around, be colorful, spontaneous, imaginative and goofy, even if we’re “old.”

Something that came so naturally such as play when we were children becomes less so as we grow up and spend so much time on mundane tasks and things that aren’t so much fun. We dismiss how energizing play can be, so available, immediate, all it takes is your imagination and it’s instant fun! If we don’t believe that we can play, such an easy activity, then how can we ever really do what we want?

One of the comments about the I Can Do What I Want Challenge video I posted on Facebook said, “I can’t do what I want because I don’t have the money.” It doesn’t take money to play and have fun?

Playing and having fun is a way for me to create more joy, to ignite my imagination, to take a chance by being silly, to rev my energy up and rekindle the wide openness, like anything is possible, the curiosity and excitement I felt in my youth. Play does that 🙂 And it’s a good workout too! Lmao! 😀

These days every time I go for a walk it feels like play because I’m surrounded by beauty, aliveness, mountains, meadows, wildflowers, the sun’s so big here, we’re a mile closer to it, I didn’t know it would make a difference? There’s always a breeze, you can see how the wind has shaped the hills, trees and clouds their angles/shapes mirroring. So many butterflies and bunnies! Shimmering trees and stately pines, the clouds are incredible. Lush grasses waving, swooshing. Birds tweeting their asses off. I am in fairy tale land everyday! It’s so amazing! I feel like I did when I was 5 running around barefoot outside in our subdivision, happy and free. Nothing to do but whatever I wanted, so I’d look for bugs, flowers and toads, still do!

In this bigger space I’m reconnecting again with the self that I’ve become through the years after 30, the whirlwinds of change. Still changing and growing but I’ll always love the 5 year old in me who knows how to revel in the magic of play. I’ll never be too old for that because I believe that I can do what I want, just like that daredevil 5 year old me who leaps off bikes to catch toads. I may not leap for toads anymore, but I can still leap!

It is my hope that others will remember that we can do more of what we want, we just have to keep at it and try new things, stay open, curious, keep learning, exploring and growing. Play helps keep us focused on what’s most important in life! Joy! Flow! Connection! Love! More joy! 😀