Guten Morgen or Guten Tag...whichever part of the day this greets you.
That is good morning or good day in Deutsch…I remember the bare essentials of the language from my time in Germany. I am a bit ashamed to admit that my most utilized phrase was “sprechen Sie Englisch?”. Regrets…those were my “survival days”, I understand why, I just wish I had been able to make more from my time there. I did take a couple of Intro to German classes while I was there…to get me by. It is strange how the language wants to take over sometimes. LOL, maybe it is a DNA thing. It might not be a priority; however, I do wish to learn several different languages and retain them before I leave this earth. It's a good thing I have found a way to teach old dogs new tricks.
Also, I have never understood why we wished everyone a good morning in English…the words contradict each other. Now, I know morning is spelt different than “mourning” …they sound the same, so to me they have the same vibration. Why are we mourning every AM and why are we wishing everyone to morn “good” everyday? Maybe it is due to the history of complaining and negativity…I guess that is a form of mourning, so we might as well wish you good while you are at it for the rest of the day? Or maybe I could actually look up the origin? Those of you listen versus reading might want to go back and look at the spelling so you know what I am referring to ;)
SMH…enough of that topic for now.
Last week we contemplated resistance. In that contemplation I suggested that moving into a “go with it” or flow state might be easier than meeting change with screaming, kicking, procrastination, ignoring, calling it “fine”, or whatever else we do or don’t do to try to outmaneuver ourselves. LOL, we think we are so clever.
I am going to share a technique with you I was introduced to during a time of learning and then being tested on that learning in front of a group of people…I had major resistance to doing anything in front of “groups” of people at the time. It was during my GROOVE facilitator training, and we had to lead our first sessions, really just a few songs at the time. Our trainers were great with us. One of them taught this super simple technique that has stuck with me whenever I am taking myself too seriously. Her name is Torrid, I don’t know if she will ever read or listen to this, but if she does, I want her to know how much this helped me then and still does today. And today, I pass it on to all of you.
If you are listening to this or reading this and you have something in your hands or are multi-tasking, I want you to put everything down for a moment. Take the index and middle fingers of both your hands to your temples and start gently massaging them. Now, I want you to repeat after me. “No Ambition, We Just Playin’”. Again. “No Ambition, We Just Playin’”. Again. “No Ambition, We Just Playin’”. “No Ambition, We Just Playin’”. “No Ambition, We Just Playin’”. “No Ambition, We Just Playin’”. Make it a cadence. Make it your mantra. Especially during tough moments.
I am as guilty as anyone for taking life way too seriously at times, especially when I was in “survival” mode. I am so thankful the seriousness has been and continues to fade with time and experience. Instead of being serious, can we work at being sincere and playful? You might just be surprised at the results. Sincere playfulness doesn’t just change the mood. Sincere playfulness changes minds. Sincere playfulness changes hearts. Sincere playfulness changes our bodies. Sincere playfulness changes our spirits. Sincere playfulness helps integrate and embody our learning. Sincere playfulness sparks something within us and within others around us.
Sincere playfulness eventually leads to innovation. Innovation has been a hot topic for a few years now…if you are on the innovation train it might behoove you to innovate through a vibration of sincere playfulness.
To those of you who believe “play” is a complete waste of time…question for you...Have you actually tried it? Like, with an open mind and heart? Or is the belief of it being a waste of time, only a defense mechanism because you didn’t get to learn how to play as a child…or don’t remember how because life circumstances stole it out from under you at too early an age?
Hear me out for a moment.
I was you, rather, I used to be in that energy. Just being around “play” annoyed me. It eventually moved to a curiosity and watchfulness but still would not participate. And then, I had a daughter.
She changed my mind. When she was a toddler, she became my 1st teacher in how to approach life with sincere playfulness. She woke up my own inner toddler and we had a blast together. She is, now almost 16 years old…I get to be her witness on how age and experience attempts to steal it away from all of us…LOL, thank God she has me to be an annoying, probably awkward, or as she says “cringy”, reminder of how important it is to incorporate sincere playfulness in serious times.
Maybe you don’t have toddlers around to remind you, teach you, or wake up your inner toddler? Please do not be offended at what I am going to say next. Toddlers are my most favorite humans!! Their innocence, curiosity, sincere playfulness, love of self, and connection to their bodies, minds, emotions, and spirit are truly top notch, and consistently on point. Without a doubt, I know, every single one of you has the ability to reconnect with your own inner toddler, if you make the choice to; he or she is your biggest fan and wants to be a part of your life. Some of your best ideas will probably come from working with that part of you. He or she is not a waste of your time; they are holding the key to your joy.
When your inner toddler’s essence springs back up within you and meets another’s outside of you, well, that’s magic folks. If you stay there awhile you will see curiosity, fun, changes in your body, emotions, mind, and spirit. You are integrating and embodying whatever you might be learning at the time, and you may not even notice the work happening because it doesn’t feel like work. And if you stay awhile longer, well, you might just get to the magical point of innovation.
Yes...I am a grandma...weird. Isn't he adorable??
How will you know when you have tapped into this essence? Warning! There will be side effects :). You will certainly notice symptoms of curiosity, eyes widening with a twinkle and in wonder, wanting to be with and show others who you are and what you can do, the tush and head will more than likely start wiggling if there is music playing, your cheeks might hurt from smiling so much, you will only eat what your body wants and when it wants it, you will go to the bathroom when your body is ready to go, you will sleep when your body wants to sleep, you will be checking other humans out, you will be giving those you know and strangers eye contact, you might start talking to strangers, you will probably giggle, getting dirty and not noticing or caring too much is likely, you might make a mess wherever you go, you will protest confidently for all to hear if you do not like or want something, you will make as much noise feels right for you, you will share the love that you are, the love that you entered this world with, with the people in your world that are ready to notice and receive it. You will feel the absolute freedom our souls are supposed to feel while living in a human body while we are on this earth.
Don’t believe me? Not quite convinced? Well, in the essence of sincere playfulness I dare you to prove me wrong! Start with a dose of the cadence "No Ambition, We Just Playin'", as needed throughout your day to allow all that seriousness to loosen up. If you have forgotten or never learned how to play and there are no toddlers in sight to observe or learn from, reach out to another adult who has figured it out to help you spark your own inner toddler essence. Adults who tap into this essence frequently sure do love play dates! If you get nervous thinking about asking, just remember, "No Ambition, We Just Playin'"!
Oh, and for those of you listening versus reading, I invite you to come back and take a peek at the pictures I added towards the end here. Sometimes a visual and feeling into the essence of what you're seeing speaks louder than words. Oh! And the final picture is me pointing out how my wall from last week turned out!!
Happy Sunday!
Always with Love & Gratitude,
Cheryl Levadney
