The One Reason Why Adults Should Play More. Yes, That's You.

Our brains are rotting. 

We're cooped up behind screens, flicking away to see what the world has to throw at us. 

We're depressed. Search "2020 news," and you'll enter a state of hysteria. There's panic, sadness, and fear everywhere. 

It's a good thing I avoid mass media news. 

Sure there are important topics to discuss and fix, but it's not going to happen under the hijacking of our emotions.

Is having fun a sin? No! We can learn a lot from toddlers. 

My younger son walks over to his older brother, grabs his head, and begins to squeeze. 

He then straddles him, tightly wrapping his arms around his body, and squeezes into a bear hug.

My oldest son squirms, laughs, and makes his counter move. 

They're play wrestling. 

I laugh every time I watch it. Within a few seconds, I jump in on the fun. 

You see it occur throughout nature. Yes, nature is a brutal place, but they find time to play, as there are lessons in the activity. 

Watch domesticated kittens pouncing on each other—dogs chasing and nipping at each other's butts.

They're playing. 

Why should adults play more? Science tells us there are benefits to play, and it serves a crucial role in our lives. 

"We found that play activates the whole neocortex," says researcher Jaak Panksepp at Washington State University, in the NPR article Scientists Say Child's Play Helps Build A Better Brain.

He also adds, "we found that of the 1,200 genes that we measured, about one-third of them were significantly changed simply by having a half-hour of play."

Scheduling play in your life can significantly alter our mood and emotions.

The other week I was annoyed at work. Something struck me wrong, and I became frustrated.

I felt agitated. 

Then, I went on a hike with my family. We played in the dirt, chased each other, and shared some great laughs that will be forever documented in my journal. 

It completely changed my mood. After play, I became a different person.

Just imagine Hell Boy morphing into Peter Pan. That was me. 

There's a ton of studies on the impact of play, and in this one, "Play therapy helped pre-school children to improve their social, emotional, and behavioral skills. It also provided benefits for the children to decrease their fear and anxiety levels, to improve their communication and coping skills, and to increase their self-esteem."

Stuart Brown details it out, in his Ted Talk, Play Is More Than Just Fun. 

The older we become, the farther we get a stick jammed up our rear.

We need to bring play back to our adulthood. 

Life is never so serious where we can't play. It's a perk of living. Nothing can stop us from having a little fun, only ourselves. 

Here's how I like to play: 

• I joke around…a lot. I love to tease and make fun of the people I love the most, including myself. 

• Join in on my son's wrestling match. 

• Play hide and seek. 

• Chase each other around the house. 

• Throw the frisbee. 

• Roll down a hill. 

• Spin my sons around and fall as we're all too dizzy to walk.

• Play in the water with the hose. 

The list is endless, and it's clear why adults should play more. 

Let's add more play into our lives. A lot is going on right now, but not enough to stop us from having fun. We'll be better for it.