Playing with Fire by Alli Vainshtein

I guess because I was born the year of the Fire Rooster, playing with fire has always been interesting to me. I dream about diving into live volcanoes.

The older I get, the more daring I am. But it's a different kind of daring then when I was young. I could be foolish when I was young, diving into the pool before checking to see if there was water. I didn't think before I moved, often finding myself in very stick situations. Now I have the perspective of time, I can plan out my daring moves, I can strategically place myself at just the right place where I can have the most fun.

So the point is, what is the most fun?

What do I really want to do with my life?

This has been a question it has taken me many years to answer. What is fun? what do I want to do? What is the most important thing in my life? Is it eating chocolate and drinking coffee? Is it raising two beautiful daughters? Is it my amazing relationship with my third husband? Is it my rewarding job as a teacher? Is it the fascinating doctoral studies I am taking?

I think this is why many people don't ever achieve their goals. Because they don't know what their goals are. They don't know what makes them happy. They don't know how to play with their own life.

It has taken me many years to figure out what it was I really wanted. And part of that is scraping away the extra things that take up so much of my time. At first, it seemed like I was making sacrifices, but then I see that it was setting me free. I realize now that saying no to the things that were holding me back was the most freeing thing I ever did. I said no to everything that was tying me down, the things that were making me feel guilty, the activities that were sapping my energy and my health.

I learned how much fun NO can be.

And learning about no, shows me how the fire can burn away the unnecessary things in my life, so I can be free to do the things I really want to do. I'm learning how these "sacrificies" make it easier for me to play and have fun.

and right now, playing is doing the things that matter to me. Teaching the classes I enjoy teaching, and working on my doctorate research. It might not sound like to fun to anyone else, but I don't live for them.

Right now, I do what is fun for me.

Enjoy your life!

Have fun in your own way, play in your own playground and do what you want!

Alli Vainshtein is an Adjunct Faculty at Riverland Community College, and a doctoral learner at the University of Phoenix. She lives in Tropical Southern Minnesota with her husband and a feline dictator named Pooh. Her greatest joys in life are teaching, learning, connecting with the people she loves, and being creative.