I have picked up the motto years back that I tell my kids to encourage them at school ‘work hard and play hard’. I’d like to say its stood me in good stead. It may come across with a sense of ‘work‘ is the bad guy and ‘play‘ the good guy but my experience is that both can be positive or negative, which I’m sure you’d agree. So the question isn’t really about doing either work or play or in varying amounts but how to get the most out of each and doing them at the right time.
Work for me is great if I am learning, working with new people or meeting new challenges. It’s more of when you look back at how something went that you begin to see what makes you tick. When I was a teenager (a while ago now) I built myself a classical guitar which at times would get intense so much so that rather than go on holiday with the family I stayed at home for two weeks not speaking to a sole to crack on a get it built. With high interest factor and without distraction it looked more like a guitar after the fortnight than lumps of wood. However, a few months later when I was low, tired and depressed it dawned on me how I had been lonely during the time without human interaction, the effect wasn’t seen at the time but afterwards. Its good to understand yourself a little more each day and since then I know I like working with others (some of the time).
When I got married to Alison I remember the words “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife” it comes from Mark 10:6-8. You could say the simplest team going is a couple having tied the knot and I’ve learnt more about life and myself in a team of two than anywhere else.
Its not surprising that working in teams at home, work or on the football pitch that life is more rewarding than doing it alone. After all God is three persons Father, Son and Holy Spirit so teams have been around an awful long time! The next time you decide to ‘work hard and play hard’ in the context of a team in some way you reflect the nature of God himself, now there’s a thought.