Mind Game: Turning Work into Play

Photo: Adobe Stock / © contrastwerkstatt

This is Rich Israel speaking to you from a soft spot in my heart. I’d like to use this space to share inspiring musings and anecdotes about joy, honesty, friendship, integrity, and other subjects that can enhance the quality of our lives. 

Because work occupies a good part of our time, I wanted to launch my blog with thoughts on how to adjust your attitude to make it more fun.

​Most people distinguish work from play. But some dance to a different paradigm. The lucky ones do what they love, which is always best and at the very least should be a long-term goal for everyone. The smart ones who aren’t that lucky shift their attitude to love what they do. If we don’t take one of these tracks, we’re destined to live a dreary existence. 

​Sure, lots of jobs aren’t ideal. I’ve had plenty of them. But life is too short to spend any more time suffering than we need to. The trick for me is to turn work into play. Play is something we all inherently practiced from birth. And play has this great side effect called enjoyment, and any word with “joy” in it is worth pursuing. The happiest people I meet are grateful to just be able to work.

Photo: Adobe Stock / © bst2012

I’m not saying I always take this road, but I do make an attempt. When I signed with Sandra Jonas Publishing for my new book, Groovin’, the first thing I said to myself was, OH SHIT! WHAT NOW?

Actually, at first I was excited. At least for a few hours. Then reality set in, and that excitement turned into sheer terror. You see, selling a book these days of media overstimulation is a bitch. Letting people know your book exists takes a lot of effort, and even if you manage to get the word out, people don’t buy books the way they used to. 

Nowadays you need a website and a blog and a mailing list. Then you need to produce interesting, helpful content if you want folks to take notice. Even though I love to write, I wasn’t keen on another career in marketing. I wrote my book because I had a bunch of fun stories I knew people would enjoy. But to get those stories out in the world, I was going to have to do some heavy lifting.

The thought of coming up with more content that people would take the time from their busy lives to read was overwhelming. I’ve worked with energetic medicine over several lifetimes in this body, so I started looking for something to give me the courage to combat my wimpiness. I have a lot of tools in my arsenal to help with emotional balance, but I didn’t see anything that quite hit the mark. 

I went around and around and finally realized—and not for the first time—that only one thing would help. The answers we always seek are right inside. When I’m in balance, I have clarity, and when I have clarity and balance, I have everything else I need (including courage). 

So I turned to meditation. I went inside and I meditated . . . and I meditated . . . and I meditated some more. 

And when that clarity came, I was ready for the challenge. I no longer looked at the road ahead as an insurmountable task but as another adventure in the journey of my life. And damn, I love a good adventure! ​

Look for ways to turn your work time into a game. Sometimes it simply takes an attitude adjustment.
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If you have some tricks for making difficult tasks fun, I’d love to hear about them. Until next time, enjoy life as much as you can! ​

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