Welcome back to I Wanna Be Me When I Grow Up. My name is Kara.
In today's episode we're talking about one of my favorite subjects - recharging your batteries as a human being. Let's get straight into it.
All work and no play makes Kara a dull person.... It probably makes you a pretty dull person too. So, what does it mean to play - and more importantly to recharge your batteries - as an adult?
We are working our way through author and podcaster Gretchen Rubin's Vital 9 elements for a happy, healthy life. I am using this as the framework for walking you through my personal wellness framework. Today - Rubin's next element is recharging. Recharge is defined as to make or become restored in energy or spirit. For me, I symbolize this as finding joy in the journey.
One of the most important concepts in recharging is the idea of play. Play is defined as engaging in an activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose. When we are children, play is natural - but as adults we rarely make enough time for play. You may even be thinking as you're listening to this that you don't even know how to play as an adult.
Let's use that definition to see if we can tease out ways to play. What are the activities you do for enjoyment or for recreation? I love to travel and, even more importantly to adopt a tourist mindset whenever I can. As a tourist you keep your eyes open and look for new experiences and opportunities that you might enjoy. You can do this even in your own town. I also love to do things like reading and writing, making art, playing music and much more. I don't have a purpose for these when I engage in them for play. They might result in something that has a major purpose but I am simply having fun while I am doing those things.
Another aspect to having fun and finding joy each day is to adopt a positive mindset. This is not the same as simply having a sunny disposition or being positive all the time. It is recognizing that life goes in the direction our energy points. If we are directing our energy in a positive way - we will manifest positive things. If we are directing our energy in a negative way - we will manifest those things. I prefer to manifest more positive things - which is why I adopted my wellness framework of "Find Joy in the Journey."
Here are you questions and prompts for today to explore this area of wellness for yourself:
What activities do you do under the guise of self-care? How do these recharge you? When was the last time you scheduled one of these?
Do you have a go to list of relaxing activities you can do if you need to recharge? If not, take 10 minutes and make that list?
What do you do for play? How do these recharge you? If you don't do anything for play, what did you love to do as a kid? What might that look like as an adult?
Does travel recharge you? If so, how can you adopt a tourist mindset in your every day life? What could curiosity do to improve your view of your current world?
In what area do you have a negative mindset. Remind yourself for a week to try positive thoughts rather than negative. See if anything changes
Tomorrow we're going to look at the role order and organization play in a happy, healthy life - and whether or not order and organization deserves a place in your framework for wellness.
Don't forget to like, rate, review and share this podcast if it was valuable to you. Do you want to make sure you get every episode as well as everything else I publish? If so, then subscribe to my newsletter at https://iwannabemewhenigrowup.substack.com/.
I'll talk to you tomorrow.
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14 - Recharging Your Batteries