Rest, Relaxation and Play

I know how to rest. That means I stop doing stuff and sit still. Relaxing is harder. I can stop being busy and still not be relaxed. This leads me to the thing I don’t do well—play. I’ve decided to treat this summer as if I were getting out of school (which I am). The only problem is that I don’t know how to play. Even when I was a kid, I didn’t play well. I like to read and watch television. I like to crochet and cross-stitch. I like to bowl. Bowling is as close as it gets to playing and I haven’t bowled in 5 years.

Middle aged women tend to be engulfed by family commitments. There are aging parents. There are children who are at home or starting families of their own. We can get completely and utterly wrapped up in other people’s lives. Play becomes a luxury or foolishness instead of a way to relax and forget our responsibilities for a few moments.

We have friends that we see every month or so. When we call to make a date, the question is always “Can you come out and play?” When we meet, no matter what is going on in our lives we laugh until we cry. We have health issues as well as parent and child issues. It is our play time. Always. Truthfully, it’s one of the only times we allow ourselves that luxury.

To all there is an appointed time, even a time for every purpose under the heavens………a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; Ecclesiastes 3: 1, 4

This summer, I am going to attempt to cultivate the habit of playing, laughing (and maybe even a little dancing). Join me. We might get from rest to relaxation all the way to the top of the ladder—playtime.