Permission to Play

At what age does the benefit of play cease? Child development experts agree that play is very important in the learning and emotional development of all children. But do we ever grow out of a need for play? I answer with an emphatic no. All the benefits of play continue into adulthood. Would you like to enjoy the following benefits daily?

- Experience fun and joy

- Further develop skills such as reading, problem solving, and strength & flexibility

- Work through emotions and develop values and ethics

- Improve your feelings of self-worth

- Better understanding of the world around you

- Develop social skills and deeper relationships

That's just a short list of what experts say children gain when they play. Humanity has robed itself of humanity when play is removed from our lives. As we age we continue to learn and grow. In some ways we are always children. Exploration and discovery should not end when we become adults. If anything, play should become more exciting and expansive.

Let me apply this to the work world. If you take a little time to play with your tools and explore what they can do, you will find yourself becoming more efficient and skilled with them. The quality of your work will increase because you've been honoring recess and allowing your sub-conscious mind to get involved in the problem solving. Your job will continue to excite you because you will always be finding something new.

In addition, play is a stress relief. If you keep a bow constantly strung up, it will lose it's spring and cease to function. If you continue to tighten the stings on an instrument, they will eventually break and there will be no more music. Playing allows you to loosen the strings and maintain your flexibility. Without play, we can become so focused on one thing that we sacrifice all other possibilities. Concentrate too hard on a single tree trunk long enough and not only will you miss the forest, you'll miss the approaching forest fire!

Take a little time and have some fun today. It will not matter what you accomplish in life, if in the end you never enjoyed it.

Dare to Soar with Carolyn Frances,
Life Coach & Spiritual Guide,
http://www.claiminggreatness.cc

cleaning lady near Northbrook ...

In The News:

Ahold Delhaize's cybersecurity incident knocked online ordering and digital coupons offline at Stop & Shop, Food Lion, Hannaford and Giant Food stores.

The Fox News AI Newsletter covers the latest artificial intelligence technology advancements, including the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Amazon's About You feature includes personality details from your shopping history, and some shoppers are finding hilariously awkward results.

Identity theft recovery starts with securing bank accounts, freezing credit and enabling two-factor authentication within the first 24 hours.

Apple's $299 HomeView smart display uses facial recognition to personalize screens for up to six household members and show live security camera feeds.

Domonique DuBose spotted red flags when a man on Hinge with 85,000 followers and a blue checkmark claimed to be a San Francisco 49ers player.

Your phone's location data can expose visits to doctors, pharmacies and places of worship. The FTC took action against data brokers selling this data.

Hackers targeted Danfoss refrigerator controls across French supermarkets, forcing chains like Carrefour and Monoprix to discard massive food stocks.

iOS 27 finally lets iPhone Shared Albums store photos and videos at full resolution in iCloud, but new items count toward the owner's storage.

A fake Facebook Marketplace text scam uses your real name as the seller to trick you into replying, and Malwarebytes warns even one response helps.

The Pentagon data breach exposed 2.76 million Social Security numbers and military records, raising long-term identity theft concerns for veterans.

Kodiak AI plans to haul IKEA freight on Texas highways with no one in the cab, raising urgent cybersecurity and safety questions for drivers.

Apple Intelligence in iOS 27 adds Extend and Reframe tools to Photos, letting iPhones generate new background areas beyond your original borders.

Microsoft's X account was hijacked to promote a crypto pump-and-dump scheme, exposing its more than 13 million followers to a scam campaign.

Scammers can combine your name, phone number and address with data breach details to attempt SIM swaps, phishing and even identity theft schemes.

ChatGPT Work, Meta Muse and Gemini Spark can monitor flight prices, sort your email inbox and track important deadlines, but savvy users start small.

iPhone, Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel each hide a built-in tool that turns a video frame into a separate photo without any screenshot needed.

Operation KillSwitch dismantled KillSec's ransomware infrastructure, but investigators say a 16-year-old allegedly ran the entire cybercrime operation.

The Fox News Artificial Intelligence newsletter covers where voters will decide on AI data center ballot measures and Jeff Bezos' tech vision.

Apple's Impersonation Risk Detection in iOS 27 can flag suspicious activity inside apps, but the setting is off by default and must be enabled.

Federal Election Commission records can expose your name, address, employer and donation history once contributions exceed the $200 threshold.

Cybersecurity expert Morgan Wright says human skepticism remains the strongest defense against AI-driven phishing scams and voice cloning fraud schemes.

iPhone, Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy each handle security updates differently, and one screen saying "up to date" may not tell the whole story.

Deborah Del Mastro heard what sounded like her daughter's terrified voice on the phone, launching a five-hour virtual kidnapping scam ordeal.

Hotel TV privacy risks go beyond forgotten passwords when you sign into Netflix or other streaming apps on shared devices you don't control.

Permission to Play

Stress Management