March 21, 2021

Affirmators! Week 5: Playfulness

Affirmators! are cards with positive affirmations written on them. My friend John sent me a deck of them and I've been drawing one from the deck each Sunday. I hang it on my bathroom mirror to keep it in the front of my mind and try to work on that topic through the week. That's what this Affirmators! post series is about.

Last week, the card was about about "Connection"--connecting with other people, even strangers. I'm super shy and introverted, so it's extremely difficult for me to connect, but it's something I definitely want to work on. I didn't really get a chance to do that this past week (or this past year, really, with all the social distancing!). But I'm going to continue to work on it when I find opportunities to make a connection with someone.

Here is today's card: 

Playfulness

I am a playful participant in life, and I always have the option to make something a fun game rather than a heavy burden. Mary Poppins puts sugar in the medicine for a reason. That lady really knows how to party.

This is a great card! It's probably my favorite so far.

I used to be extremely playful--particularly with Jerry. We joked around all the time, and our friends always said how much they loved our relationship because we would banter and play around.


I haven't turned into a total dud, but I've definitely lost a lot of my playfulness. I thought of this a few days ago, actually. I was in the closet getting dressed, and I had my shirt off. Jerry was going to walk past me to his side of the closet and as he brushed past, he "accidentally" bumped my back against the wall--which, if you remember doing that as a kid for fun, is FREEZING. (If you've never done it, try it right now. Take your shirt off and then press your back against a wall. I promise you will gasp and jump away quickly, haha.)

Anyway, Jerry did this to me and then I gasped and was trying to slap at him while he ducked away. It was playful! We used to do that to each other all the time. Over the past decade or so, I started getting annoyed or mad when he would play a joke on me. And then he just stopped doing them. I don't want to lose our playfulness!


We do have this one fun thing that is totally ridiculous but it always--ALWAYS--makes us laugh hysterically. If you're familiar with the Wii Fit, there is a skiing game where you stand on the balance board. You bend your knees as your Mii character gains speed going down the ski hill, and then on cue, it's time to make your Mii jump as high as it can. To do this, you don't actually jump on the board, but you go from bent knees to standing stiff and leaning slightly forward as fast as you can, and then holding that position for a few seconds. You try to balance like that (standing up, as stiff as a board, and leaning forward) while your Mii flies through the air. (It's actually kind of hard to keep your balance!)

ANYWAY, it would make us laugh when we'd watch each other play the game. But then one day, out of nowhere, one of us (I can't remember which) did it randomly during a conversation. We were just talking and then bam! Ski jump position: Stiff as a board, completely straight body.

Ever since then, we'll do it every so often. We want it to still be a total surprise out of nowhere, so we don't do it frequently (maybe once a month) but it makes us crack up. I even did it during sex one time, and we laughed so hard we cried.

Jerry has always been extremely playful. It makes him a great dad--kids are always drawn to him because he acts goofy. His playfulness is one of my very favorite things about him. And I'm sure he'd love it if I was as playful as I used to be, so this week I'm going to try to do some of the goofy things we used to do.

The card's affirmation message was more about finding ways to make mundane or burdensome tasks more interesting or fun. I feel like I already do this pretty well, but I'll try to think about it during the week and see if there are some burdensome tasks that I can make fun in some way.

If this Affirmators! card goes well, this week should be great :)

5 comments:

  1. This is awesome. What a great card and a wonderful way to make its message work for you. I can't wait to hear how it goes!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This reminds me of a trending movie on Netflix right now, Yes Day. You should check it out...a family comedy with a plot I haven't seen over and over ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a fun week! I've never used a Wii, let alone done the skiing game, but your description of the "ski jump" being used in random conversations has made me giggle. 😹

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the reminder to be playful. Last year was so serious. Part of it really was serious, but wow did we wind up becoming so serious as a result. I vow to infuse a bit more fun into our lives. We started Sunday with a trip to Yellow Springs. Just riding in the car together for an hour was fun. Who knew? We'd forgotten how much we liked doing that because we're cooped up in the house together all the time. It was like we were two different people. You always make me think of the best things. Thanks for these posts. So glad John send you the Affirmators! cards.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This hits home. My fiance and I sat down for a reflection chat the other night and I felt like I was called out for losing my playfulness with these words "you're not ss fun as you use to be". You know it hurt at time but it's true. I am less adventurous or playful as I was 70 pounds ago. I think as I gained the weight back I lost confidence to try new things, my self-esteem has gone down so I have lost joy and gained depression. This has affected the things we go and do and things in the bedroom. This post is a great reminder and challenge for me this week.

    ReplyDelete

I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

Featured Posts

Blog Archive