“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” -George Bernard Shaw, Irish Playwright

I’m a big kid. I still enjoy goofing around and engaging in fun activities and childish humour. I used to feel shame for doing so, and now I embrace my young-at-heart attitude.

I’ve heard all the lines about growing up, but I think those who are spewing those lines don’t really know what they mean when they say you gotta grow up. Of course, maturing is warranted and arrested development is not a positive thing, but being a kid inside is crucial to being happy.

I have always been the “funcle” in my family. All of my little cousins, and eventual nieces and nephews flocked to me. I was the fun adult that would play with the kids all the time. I still am to a certain extent. I remember one time asking my sister-in-law why the kids won’t leave me alone and she simply said “it’s because you’re also a kid.”

Of course I have responsibilities, hell I even have two kids now myself, but I never felt the need to stop enjoying the simply joys of life found in activities.

I envy the world through the eyes of children. They see our globe as a playground. Their imaginations run wild. Why should we get away from that perspective?

I can guarantee you, the happiest people are the ones enjoying themselves in a playful manner, and the most miserable sit quietly stirring about the bills, the politics, and the religion in their lives.

I have a family member who I always have compared myself to because we are very close in age. Since he was a kid all he wanted to do was be an adult. When we were children he’d rather hang out with the grown-ups and not play games with the rest of the kids. He had a child at 19, so he got his wish. Today, I don’t find him to be a fun person to be around.

I, on the other hand, completely find joy in staying young at heart. My step-daughter is almost 14 years old, and I love hanging out with her and doing fun activities. We play disc golf and squash together. We went sledding down a big hill in our neighbourhood. We play quizzes on YouTube in a competitive nature.

After I got sober, I noticed that without alcohol, a lot of “adult evenings” were boring as fuck. I went to my buddy’s bachelor party a year back or so, and I thought we were gonna be playing Cornhole and horseshoes the whole day, but it ended up being 15 guys sitting around a Cornhole game that only saw the odd game here and there. I was bored out of my tree.

I went swimming the other day with some of my family, and because my son and fiancee were sick and stepdaughter was at a birthday party, I went alone. My cousin and his wife brought their kids and I was so excited to play with them. I like the hot tub just fine, but sitting down can only be for a few minutes in my book. I want to hang in the steam room and then cold-plunge into the deep end! I want to jump off the diving platform. I want to swim laps. I want to have fun!

I still like to enjoy some more “boring adult” forms of enjoyment like reading books, watching television and having coffee with a friend, but life is too short to be that boring!

If you really enjoy something, but “society” has deemed it to be too childish, you need to stop caring so much about what others think of you. If you love it and it brings you happiness, that’s all the validation you need. Life is about you, not what anybody thinks of you.

Not to toot my horn here, but I’ve also found that when I have to really hunker down and “be a grown-up” it has more affect because of my playful nature. Not completely bragging here, but I know my fiancee would begrudgingly agree that I am a better disciplinarian with my step-daughter than she is.

The chores still need to be done. The bills still need to be paid. The meals still need to be made. But if you’re doing all of that, you deserve to let the kid in you play.

Nobody is gonna save you, it’s up to you to let your inner child loose. You’ll be a lot happier when you set them free. This world is a playground, and damn if I’m gonna sit on the bench the whole time.