Have fun! Detach from your definitions of what you “should” be and how life “should” unfold, and how other people “should” act, and how they “should” treat you. Once you detach from your expectations of others, your perfectionism, your deadly seriousness, you can truly have some fun.
Think of Life as an Amusement Park. It’s an adventure!
- The exciting rides are scary.
- This ride turns you in circles.
- The kiddie rides are sweet and simple and short.
- You’ll get wet on the log flume, but you’ll laugh a lot.
- That show makes you laugh – and another makes you cry.
- Music makes it better, and so do bright colors.
- There’s tasty stuff to eat and something interesting around every corner.
- Sometimes you just have to wait.
- Everything costs a lot, but the price of admission is worth it.
- It’s more fun with a friend or a family.
- Play hard, jump on all the rides you can, laugh, keep moving your weary feet. Whee!
- And at the end of the experience, you will be tired and ready to go home.
You see
, it’s NOT all about you. You are just a spectator, watching the show and playing your part. There’s really nothing to get bent about. There’s no grand prize at the end for doing it “right.” You can do everything “right” and still have your house burn down, or get a nasty disease, or watch your child die of cancer. That’s just part of your own uniquely individual journey.
You see, it IS all about you. You are the one who chooses HOW you will take the journey – screaming and whining, or embracing and laughing. It’s all in how you see it. How are you perceiving your life? Does your perspective create distortions like a Fun House mirror? Can you live lightly? Can you find a way to smile about the marvelously entertaining people you meet every day? Can you live being true to yourself, instead of worrying about the Rules?
Now, don’t get me wrong. You can choose to cling to your cherished opinions as much as you want. You don’t really have to give up your demands and expectations. You will still have them, probably till your dying day. They will keep popping up, like a Whack-A-Mole game. But you don’t have to pay attention to them! You don’t have to give them any influence over your mood or your actions! Just detach a bit, and you can watch your mind as it tries to lead you down a rocky path. “Ah, there I go again, thinking my partner should do it my way. How silly of me! How futile! I wonder if I’ll ever give up on that idea.” And suddenly, you’re at Disney World, watching the show, a carefree spectator, instead of stuck in the muck of identifying with your opinions and ideas (half of which were installed in the back corners of your mind by your misguided parents.) You are so much more than your thoughts.
This all becomes easier once you truly believe that dying is safe… and therefore, so is living.
The true essence of you is eternal. You are energy, taking human form to play around in this Amusement Park called Planet Earth — to taste the incredible variety and richness of the human experience, to find the Joy in the Dance, and to Learn to Love ever more fully and unconditionally.
Shakespeare’s Puck sat in his laughing tree, saying “what fools these mortals be.” C’mon, admit it. We are one crazy species, doing all manner of foolish things. We are wondrously made indeed, but really, have you looked at yourself naked in a full-length mirror?
One of Chad’s favorite quotes was: “If you learn to laugh at yourself, you’ll never run out of material.”
As soon as you can find the humor, that Christmas dinner with the in-laws becomes entertainment instead of torture. When you have nothing to prove, you are free to be who you really are. When you have detached from being right or worrying about your image, you can breath easy and just enjoy the show.
The Show goes by quickly and it doesn’t last very long, but it is endlessly entertaining when you wake up to watch.
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