Mnemonic games |
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For the Fun of It! - by Colleen Kilpatrick"You were intended not only to work, but to rest, laugh, play, and have proper leisure and enjoyment."--Grenville Kleiser ?I don?t know if I want to grow up?, my friend?s teenage son said to me. ?Being an adult looks like a lot of work and not much fun.? Many adults would agree with this statement and it?s easy to understand why. In this country where the name of the game is productivity, our sense of self-worth is often linked to how much we work and what we accomplish. For many of us, life is one big ?To-do? List and the more we are able to cross off it, the better we feel. How many times have we heard the question, ?How was your day?? followed by, ?Great. I got a lot done?? With the accomplishment of tasks and the achievement of goals as the yardstick of our personal and professional value, it is not surprising that the things we really enjoy- the activities that energize us and put a smile on our face- are low on our list of priorities. In fact, fun and play are often seen as self-indulgent and a waste of time. It?s not that we wouldn?t like to play and have fun; it?s just that we feel guilty taking a break when there is so much to do. We?ll relax and have fun, we promise ourselves, when we get everything done. We?ll, I?ve got news for you. The in-box of life is never empty. Going faster won?t empty it, staying up later won?t empty it, doing three things at once won?t empty it. The sooner you realize this the sooner you can start having fun! Why wait? Life is not a dress rehearsal. The time to have fun and enjoy life is now. Fun is a necessary ingredient of a high-quality life. It will put a smile on your face and a bounce in your step. It will energize your body, relax your mind and soothe your soul. Making time for fun will help you be your best, most successful self. In a recent motivational seminar, Les Brown said, ?Don?t let the child in you die. No matter what is happening in your life, no matter what you are going through, make time for fun.? As kids, making time for fun was easy. With few responsibilities and fewer cares, we were free to participate in activities just for the fun of it. Fun was even scheduled into our school schedule. ?Recess? was a time to play games, laugh with our friends and frolic on the playground. By breaking for fun we returned to the classroom feeling refreshed, invigorated and better able to concentrate on the tasks at hand. It is high time we adults realize that the practice of breaking for fun is as beneficial for us today as it was when we were kids. It?s time we start participating in activities ?just for the fun of it.? If you long for more fun in your life, you must make space for it. There are a fixed number of hours in a day and unless you?re actively trying to get rid of things that aren?t necessary, you could easily be working from cradle to grave and never experiencing the joy of living. You have to make time for the things you love. You must schedule time for fun and play just as you do your meetings, appointments and errands. Otherwise it won?t happen. Incorporate fun into as many moments as you can. Let it restore your soul, refresh your mind and put a smile back on your face. Allow it to soften the sharp edges of life. Know that a day or an hour spent having fun will enable you to return to the responsibilities of adulthood with a fresh perspective and a cheerful attitude. This month, this last glorious month of summer, I challenge you to make fun a priority in your life. Discover how much better life can be when fun is a part of it. Here?s how: Coaching To Go What Fun! If you want more fun in your life, the first step is to identify the activities and events you consider fun. I have a section in my Day Planner titled, ?Fun and Recreation?. In it I maintain a list of activities I love to do or am eager to try. Whenever I hear or read about an event, festival or activity that interests me, I add it to the list. Take the time to ponder what you consider ?fun? then plan to take part ?just for the fun of it?. Think Back If you have been putting off having fun a long time, you may find it difficult remembering what you consider fun. If this is the case, think back to what you did for fun as a child. Often, the activities you enjoyed as a kid will provide you the same sense of magic and delight as an adult. The unicycle that brought me hours of pleasure as a kid continues to be a source of joy and delight for me. If, as a child, you loved to hang out at the beach, read in a hammock, ride horseback, sleep out in the backyard, hike in the woods, or play games with friends, why not give those activities a try again. Quite possibly they?ll put a smile on your face the way they did years ago. Start Dumping One of the most overlooked reasons people never achieve the life they truly desire is because their lives are filled with activities, relationships, obligations, things and projects that do not nourish them. If you want more fun in your life begin by creating space for the activities you enjoy and eliminate everything that is unnecessary. Do not attempt to add fun activities to an already over-booked schedule. Doing so will cause more stress and an even longer ?To-do? List. Start eliminating the unnecessary items first, which will create a vacuum into which fun activities will flow. Schedule Time for Fun! If you want to have more fun in life, make fun a priority just as you do meetings and appointments. Select the activity you want to enjoy and write it in pen in your day planner. Honor your appointment with fun as much as you would any other entry in your calendar. Your happiness, health and peace of mind are at stake here. Hang Our With Hoots A sure way to bring more fun and laughter into your life is to hang out with hoots. What is a hoot? According to Webster, ?hoot? is slang for a very funny person. With a hoot around, life is lot more fun. Hoots make you laugh. Hoots help you see the humorous side of all things. Wayne Dyer said, ?The people I most enjoy being around in my life are those who can laugh, frequently and raucously ? and provoke the same reaction in me.? If you?re serious about having more fun, hang out with hoots. Be a Hoot In order to hang out with hoots, you?ve got to be a hoot. Like attracts like. Hoots like hoots. Hoots don?t like non-hoots. Hoots think non-hoots are much too serious. Hoots say things like, ?Lighten-up!? to non-hoots. So, if you want to have hoots in your life you have to develop hoot-like tendencies. You have to bring a little more laughter and levity into your own life. If you want to attract fun people into your life, you have to be a fun person. Perform Random Acts of Hootness You?ve heard the saying ?Perform random acts of kindness?. I say, perform random acts of hootness, as well. Any act that adds a little levity to life will do ? sharing a joke, planning a surprise date, leaving a kind or humorous note for a loved one or giving a surprise gift meant to delight. Look for and create opportunities to make life more fun for yourself and everyone around you. Learn From the Experts If you need a reminder of how to have fun, take a lesson from children. By observing children at play you will learn how to delight in simple pleasures, be more spontaneous and laugh more easily. Open yourself to learning how to have fun from the little ones in your life. Play Games A few years back a friend of mine had a game party. We all brought our favorite games ? Balderdash, Pictionary, Taboo, Catch Phrase ? and played until the wee hours of the morning. It was a party to remember! If you want to add a lot of fun and laughter into your life and the lives of others, host a game party. The event will be remembered fondly for years to come. ?We live in a society where even play is turned into work. But the highest existence is not work; the highest level of existence is play.? Conrad Hyers Colleen Kilpatrick is a Life Coach, Motivational Speaker and Columnist committed to supporting individuals and organizations in attaining their objectives while staying true to their values and vision. With compassion, wisdom and humor, she inspires both individuals and groups to courageously embrace new possibilities and directions. Colleen is available for individual coaching, teleclasses and seminars and can be reached at 248-685-9226 or colleen@colleenandcompany.com. Create the life you love! If not now, when? Sports Creativity in Your Own Backyard - by Marty SchupakThe sporting goods industry is a multi-billion dollar business, and the cost of equipment can be ridiculously expensive. Every family cannot afford the latest and greatest products (and gimmicks). But the old saying that ?the best things in life are free? can also hold true in sports. Before you go out and spend hundreds of dollars on a deluxe glove or equipment to help your kids learn a level swing, you should look around your house and see what you can create, cheaply, that will help your kids improve their skills--and still have fun.When I was a kid growing up, some of my best memories were throwing around the baseball with my older brother in our backyard. Using our imaginations, we used almost every tree and rock in our yard to create fantasy sports and games. One of our favorite games was something we called ?error.? One of us would throw a tennis ball on the roof of our house--within an imaginary twenty foot boundary--and the other would have to catch the ball before it hit the ground. We spent endless hours playing this game. Other then some yelling from my parents (something about too many balls being stuck in the gutter), this game still sticks in my mind as providing some of the most fun in my childhood. Rushing forward about twenty five years, I found myself with my kids creating some similar games in our backyard (with my own gutter lurking nearby). Most combined fun with affordability . We made use of almost every part of our property. Instead of spending over a hundred dollars on a hitting net, we put together a comparable apparatus using a 10X14 plastic tarp along with some bicycle hooks, rope and two convenient trees. And we had fun putting it up. The boys would hit balls into the tarp as I did my best impression of a big league hitting coach giving them tips. Drills such as hitting off the batting tee and soft toss worked out great, too, with the tarp as backstop, but wacky games were also plentiful. We created a game right on the tarp, putting two squares, one inside the other made out of duct tape. This game we called ?toss ball home run derby.? Doing the soft toss drill against the tarp, a ball hit inside the small square would be a home run. A ball hit inside the large square would be a single. Everything else was an out. Three outs a team. This game combined skill building and having fun. But I?d been inventing games for years. One of the first things I did with both my sons as soon as they were old enough to hold a bat,was to get one of those large red plastic ?whiffle? bats. I then bought a bottle of soap bubbles that all kids love. I would blow the bubbles and have my son hit them with the big red bat. We would run up and down the backyard as he chased the bubbles down and tried to break them. I encouraged him to keep both hands on the bat as he swung but if he didn?t, ?so what?--he was having fun. Another game my kids loved when they got a little older was called the ?dive game.? I would throw ground balls to either their left or right side, and they would have to dive in front of the ball and stop it. I tried teaching them that the goal was to just stop the ball?like a hockey or soccer goalie--and not necessarily catch it. But it was amazing how much effort they put into trying to catch the ball. Aside from explaining the grass stains to their mother, this game was a real hit with them and I even caught them playing it without me a few times which made me feel great. Another favorite involved a few tennis balls, a tennis racquet and a cinder block. Laying the cinder block flat, we created a simple version of ?Home Run Derby?. Standing next to one of my kids as he held the tennis racquet ready to swing it like a bat, I would bounce the ball high off the cinder block. With the ball on the way down, he would time it and hit it as far as he could. Both my kids could not get enough of this game. We were lucky that our backyard was fairly large but some of the tennis balls did travel into our neighbor?s yard. The real beauty of this game is that hitting a tennis ball with a tennis racquet almost guarantees success for the fledgling ballplayer. Families who live in the inner city can also make use of a lot of what?s around them. I remember as a child going to visit my grandparents in Brooklyn, New York. My uncle would take my brothers and me to the back of the building and play numerous games off the huge concrete wall. ?Toss ball home run derby? can be played off a wall, as well as a tarp, with the two squares made out of chalk. Another game which we played, that was made popular just after World War 2, was called ?stoop ball?. In this game we would throw a ball off the stoop (or concrete steps) and see if the other team would catch it before it bounced on the ground. One bounce would be a single, two bounces a double and so on. Inner city kids who have limited room but love sports can still find just enough to play for hours on end. Baseball need not cost a fortune. And it doesn?t have to be all boring instruction, whether it is on a practice field with twelve kids. or in your own backyard with just you and your son or daughter. Keep it cheap, if you can, and keep it fun. Marty Schupak is the producer of the baseball video ?Backyard Baseball Drills? and the best selling video ,?The 59 Minute Baseball Practice?. He is President of the Youth Sports Club, and can be reached at his web site:www.youthsportsclub.com. Project index
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