I keep a basketball and a jump rope in my car trunk. Summer mornings I work out at a park that has a basketball court. It’s exercise disguised as fun – and it’s my break-out from a mostly winter routine of the gym. There are swings nearby and I swing too. I don’t care what anyone thinks. Maybe one of these days I’ll skip around the park trail instead of run (OK, probably not).
When it snows, I go outside and make snowmen. This past winter I laid down in the snow and made snow angels. Not for anyone other than myself. I have kept coloring for years – long before it became “OK” for adults to color again with more adult books. The bottom line is that it’s simply just fun to play and especially to play like children play – with abandon and joy. Being an adult doesn’t mean deciding to be dreadfully serious. Often we switch to “adult fun” things – riding a motorcycle, kayaking, tennis…. All good things. But I don’t feel silly doing those things. I think I like to be and feel silly. I like to not conform to the behavior people expect from adults. If an ice cream truck comes through the neighborhood, I want to run for it too. If I’m by a railroad track, of course I’m going to walk on the rail. When I’m near a creek, I turn rocks over at the edge.
If I do wind up in a nursing home someday, I hope I am the old person causing all the mischief.