From another perspective

Rainy days. Have you ever noticed how the rain puts you in a more relaxed mood?

Unfortunately, the rain flooded the first floors of several buildings on campus especially Parkhurst, Foundation and Maxwell Student Union. My feet enjoyed a nice footbath when I went to get my mail on Monday.

Personally, I like the rain. It brings back memories of those carefree days of my childhood. I just wish I had the time to play in the rain like I used to. But, the semester has hit what I call crunch time. This is the time when everyone is rushing around to finish assignments before finals start rolling in.

As a child, I always waned to go swinging on the swing set in the rain. Of course, I was never allowed to do it because of the safety issues, but it is fun to mentally journey back in time to elementary school. I grew up in the suburbs of Marietta, Ga. My elementary school was only a five-minute walk from my neighborhood, so my family used to play on the playground. One of my favorite games back then was four square. Each person stands in a square, and we bounce the ball back and forth.
There are different types of bounces. If the receiver misses the ball, then he or she is out of the game. The members left playing move up. For example, if the person in square number one misses the ball,, the person in square number two moves to number one. The person in square number three moves to square number two, and the person in square number four moves to square number three. The next person in line moves into square four and tries his or her hand at the game. The object of the game is to move up to square one and stay there.

Another game that I often played in elementary school is Danish Rounders. Danish Rounders is similar to kickball, except you can have as many people on a base as you want. One time, we had 20 kids standing on first base.

Now I play more sophisticated games like tennis and racquetball. But if I could find people to play with, I would be glad to play another round of four-square; however, all of us are so busy with school and work nowadays that we can’t find time for playtime. Sometimes I wish college had a naptime and playtime. Not to mention a snack time. Would these additions bring back our imaginations and keep our heads from spinning as finals approach?

Playtime or exercise is one way to combat this time of high stress. Other ways include yoga and massages. Browse www.holisticmed.com/stressfree, for more information.

I encourage you to take time to insert some “playtime” into your schedule, just to lower your stress level.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 10 2003. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry