The 7 Steps-
Step 5. Having Fun and Being Playful

Step 6

Third Agers have received over their lifetimes millions of messages telling them to grow up, work hard, be serious, be successful, take care of their kids and everyone else and set a good example. Finally, they do it to themselves by running those thoughts over and over in their heads until they become the bars of a prison. Eventually, they don't feel it's safe or acceptable to let go and play.

They've come to believe that real life is different from play. Real life has consequences. Will I look bad? Will I keep my job? Will I screw up my children? Will I be judged a failure? Playfulness, laughter and fun are critical to happiness in the Third Age. Researchers have theorized that laughter has the ability to strengthen the human immune system. Medical studies show that it boosts levels of endorphins, the body's natural painkillers, and suppresses levels of epinephrine, the stress hormone.

Prominent scientists have said that laughter increases a disease fighting protein, B-cells, the source of a disease destroying antibody, and increases T-cells which help cellular immune response. We work with Third Agers to break down the lifetime of barriers to the freedom of play and laughter. We talk about and create the conditions necessary for them to feel safe to let go and play. The resistance to this step is Maturity Trap.