Feeling stagnant, serious or self-conscious? This will help.
Have you ever watched a dog roll in fox poop? Strange question perhaps, but bear with me a moment.
Last year, when my husband and I adopted Molly Miracle, our cheeky little rescue Westie, I did not know that scrubbing unmentionables off her not-so-white coat would be part of the deal. At first, I tried to stop her from rolling around in smelly brown stuff on the field, but one day I stopped myself and just watched.
She was in heaven. This little animal who had come to us so timid and frightened was having the absolute time of her life – and here I was, trying to bring it to a swift halt.
How often do I do that to myself, censoring the type and amount of fun and joy I allow myself to experience? A four-part lesson that I was perfectly primed to learn came to me in a way I did not anticipate, via my pooch:
Have fun as often as possible.
To do this, throw yourself with abandon into whatever it is you are doing.
Be willing to look stupid, ridiculous even.
Know that when you do this, you invite others to do the same.
I didn’t learn this as a child because I stopped having fun quite young. I was shy, self-conscious and pretty soon, addicted – and as wild as it can look, let me tell you that addiction is not fun. Neither is an all-consuming eating disorder. Same goes for shame, guilt and crippling fear.
Over the last 12 and a half years since I stopped drinking, self-harming and spiralling out of control, I have learned how to take myself less seriously, to loosen up and to play. I now know that playing is about more than just being silly, although that by itself is a good enough reason.
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