By Marcella Tarable

Life’s a playground.

And these are the rules:

Do not get too stuck on the idea of winning the battle. Maybe this time you have to lose and learn something from it.

You don’t have to follow any particular rule. So don’t worry about those invisible ones that tell you how you should behave, how you should not do this or that. It’s you own playground and you decide how to rule.

Maybe the slide is not your favourite. So you should try the swing. Maybe the swing is not your favourite. So you should try the roundabout.

Oh look.. There are already other people on the roundabout, can I join? There’s this little girl, maybe she can be my friend. Hey, what’s your name? Can I play with you?

Just try different things, see what you like, I mean what YOU really like. Not what the others tell you should  like.

Don’t be afraid of falling down. Easy to say eh? Especially when you fall and you hurt your legs, arms and maybe your head.

But it will heal. Maybe you’ll have some scars. But they are there to remind you not to step in the wrong place again. But maybe you will, anyways.

It’s the game. It will trick you sometimes.

Maybe you will encounter people who pretend to be your allies. They come into your game, mix the cards and go. They will leave you speechless and without any explanations.

Though, the game must continue, so take what you have left and start again. Throw the dice and step forward.

This time maybe you will find some people, ready to stay with you for few nights, or a week, a month or a year. They will share their tricks with you and you must share yours. Together you will be much stronger. And when you lose together, you can divide the pain in two. Keep them close to you. But when they go, don’t feel sad. They have to play their own game now and you need to play yours.

The playground doesn’t close when you’re grown up. The gates will be open until you decide.

So keep it open. At five, twenty or fifty years old.

Just play.