Play

Tonight I convinced my nephew to try sledding finally. I haven't been sledding since probably grade school. I went with him on the small hill the first couple of times until he finally decided he was ok to go on his own. Then I went a few more times by myself.

It was so fun!

There's nothing like some pure unbridled fun to bring yourself back to the present moment. Of course, there's also all the positive endorphins from the physical exercise helping you feel good too.

I'm not a proponent of "you just need to exercise more and then you won't be depressed anymore!" I don't believe it works that way. I do believe that exercise definitely can have a positive impact on your mental health, but just getting out and exercise is not necessarily going to cure you. But, if you can find the motivation to do something fun from your childhood, like sledding (or building lego, even), I think it could have a positive impact on your day.

Brene Brown says that play is super important. I just started reading The Gifts of Imperfection by her. She talks about how important play is, so I'm sure I'll have more to say about that after I've read that section of the book.

In the meantime, go play!