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Play Time

Play Time

I love to tell my kids about all of my friends in my neighborhood when I was young. I barrage them with stories about building forts, riding our bikes all over creation and playing capture the flag until dark. As you can imagine, they are both pretty sick and tired of hearing about my amazing childhood and all of my great memories.

No matter how boring they may seem, I love the feelings that come rushing back from those stories. They remind me of a time where I was free. Free from tension and the stressors of life. But more importantly, I was free to be myself, use my imagination and connect with others.

It cannot be disputed that there is a lot of tension in the world, most of which is connected to the concept of freedom. All people deserve to be treated fairly and to be free to pursue their dreams. Tackling any injustice deserves all of our attention for sure. But, I think that before we can ever address a greater good for all, we must embrace a different kind of freedom—a freedom from ego.

Each of us is flavored with self-will and self-ambition, and the desire to be coddled and admired. Therefore, as much as we endeavor to separate our self-centered qualities from the unselfish ones, the self keeps cropping up again and again, tripping us every time. Letting go of ourselves has to be the single most difficult thing we do in life.

So, maybe it is time to play. Or at least consider returning to a more childlike mindset where we are less concerned about what people think of us and more focused on using our imagination. Embracing the idea of letting go of our self interest is not just a remedy for a better version of the human race, it is the root of individual enrichment as well.

It is kind of ironic that letting go of our ego ultimately serves the self. But, when we were kids, our greatest memories included other people. We don’t tell stories about the things we did while in seclusion. On the contrary, all of our great moments involve others because there is a shared story and we can own it together.

It is time for us to have shared stories by being playful again. Businesses have been ravaged so we must use our imagination to reinvent and to serve others. In turn, we can collectively create the most amazing shared memories. We can look back at this time and remember where we let go of our egos and decided to embrace the kid in all of us. We can proudly recall this time as the time that we became free.

Let’s play.

Mark Potter

Mark Potter

Founder / Consultant

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